Ron Sossi, founder of the provocative Odyssey Theatre in L.A., dies

Ron Sossi, the laminitis of L.A.’s experimental and boundary-pushing Odyssey Theatre, has died. He was 85.

Sossi died of congestive bosom nonaccomplishment March 19 astatine Cedars-Sinai Medical Center successful Los Angeles, an Odyssey spokeswoman said. Sossi, a fable successful the section theatre community, was known for challenging accepted reasoning and creating a abstraction wherever caller ideas would beryllium greeted with unfastened arms.

“His theatre defied normal — producing enactment that galore of L.A.’s larger stages mightiness shy distant from, ignoring fiscal models successful favour of risk, passionateness and creator necessity,” said Bart DeLorenzo, manager of much than a twelve plays astatine the Odyssey, who noted the theater’s aboriginal past of premiering important work. “His Brechtian sensibility, his content successful theatre arsenic a governmental unit to signifier a culture, and his clasp of nonstop theatricality has near an indelible people connected a full procreation of theater-makers and audiences.”

Sossi was calved Nov. 22, 1939, successful Detroit. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a grade successful penning for theatre and television. He moved to Los Angeles to be UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, wherever helium won the Samuel Goldwyn grant for screenwriting. As an MFA student, helium supported himself arsenic a wedding lensman and h2o filter salesman.

He besides worked arsenic an histrion and singer. While successful school, helium traveled to Korea, Japan and Guam for a assemblage accumulation of “Carousel.” On that travel helium met Bonnie Franklin, and the classmates and co-stars were aboriginal joined from 1967 to 1970.

After graduating from UCLA, Sossi got a occupation arsenic a programme enforcement astatine ABC overseeing shows specified arsenic “Bewitched,” “The Flying Nun” and “Love, American Style.”

When moving successful tv mislaid its shine, Sossi redirected his creator efforts to the theater. In 1969 helium opened the Odyssey connected an unglamorous portion of Hollywood Boulevard, adjacent to a porn theater. Sossi started to propulsion his originative limits with its archetypal productions — “A Man’s a Man” by Bertolt Brecht, “The Serpent” by Jean-Claude van Itallie, “The Threepenny Opera” by Brecht and Kurt Weill and “The Bacchae” by Euripides.

Presenting a premix of caller enactment and reimagined classics, the Odyssey recovered its niche with L.A.’s theatergoers. This originative hub soon became known for welcoming the avant-garde of the past and present.

“I deliberation my attack is simply a small antithetic than astir people’s,” Sossi told The Times successful 1989, “in that I’m attracted to metaphysical ideas and philosophical ideas, but not to a batch of sociological and governmental stuff.”

He recalled assorted meal gatherings with different directors. “There was a beardown feeling that you were lone doing superior theatre if you were doing governmental theatre — and everything other was escapist entertainment,” Sossi said. “I retrieve saying, ‘Wait a minute! What astir theatre that deals with the large philosophical questions — you know, the meaning of it all. What’s it each about? What’s life? What’s death? What’s time? What’s space?’ They benignant of pooh-poohed me, like, ‘Come on, turn up.’”

In 1973, Sossi moved the Odyssey to a 99-seat theatre successful West L.A. Over respective years helium developed the venue into a three-theater complex. In 1989 the gathering was sold and Sossi relocated the Odyssey to its existent determination connected Sepulveda Boulevard. That analyzable officially opened successful 1990 with Brian Friel’s “Faith Healer.”

In caller years, arsenic the Odyssey welcomed the enactment of Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, María Irene Fornés and Gertrude Stein, Sossi connected a caller procreation of theater-makers with their audacious and influential forebears. For much than 50 years, Sossi’s admirers said, the Odyssey creator manager provided a level for those committed to reimagining what a theatre could be, nary substance the prestige oregon pedigree of an artist.

Instead of a work oregon ceremony, Sossi’s privation was “that the ongoing vibrancy of the theatre helium built would service arsenic his lone memorial,” according to a property release.

Sossi is survived by his wife, Séverine Larue, and his sister, Nancy Foley.

L.A. Times theatre professional Charles McNulty contributed to this report.