Michael Butler, the Tony-winning producer who brought Hair to Broadway in 1968 and later produced the film adaptation and many other productions of the show, died Monday in Santa Barbara. He was 95.
His attorney confirmed the news on behalf of Butler’s family, but did not elaborate.
As a producer, social figure, and international bon vivant, Michael Butler was an international celebrity in the 1960s and 1970s. Like his 1968 production of Hair became an international success, with 12 productions around the world, his friendships grew between exotic global figures such as the Shah of Iran and the Mahajarah of Jaipur. As a host at his lavish polo grounds in the UK, Butler included British royalty among his regular polo-playing friends. He admitted that his polo expenses consumed the entire $60 million profit from his stage play.
