Westport Country Playhouse notable performers include * 1933: Kitty Carlisle in * 1934: Burgess Meredith in Hide and Seek * 1935: Ruth Gordon in The Country Wife * 1936: * Eva Le Gallienne in Love for Love and Camille * Dorothy Gish in * 1937: Henry Fonda in The Virginian * 1938: Ethel Barrymore in The Constant Wife * 1939: * Gene Kelly, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green in * Ruth Gordon in * 1940: Paul Robeson in The Emperor Jones * 1941: Tyrone Power in Liliom directed by Lee Strasberg. * 1942–1945:The Westport Country Playhouse closed because of World War II * 1946: * June Havoc in They Knew What They Wanted * Olivia de Havilland in What Every Woman Knows * Thornton Wilder as the stage manager for Our Town * 1947: Tallulah Bankhead in Private Lives * 1948: Thornton