Sills, Paul

▪ 2009

      American theatre director and teacher

born Nov. 18, 1927, Chicago, Ill.

died June 2, 2008, Baileys Harbor, Wis.

established improvisational comedy and cofounded (1959) The Second City theatre company in Chicago. His improvisation model for Second City and its spin-offs in other cities became the basis for the format used on Saturday Night Live and other comedy television programs. Sills imitated the teaching methods that his mother, Viola Spolin, used in her drama classes; his unique style employed theatre games driven by improvisation to tell a comical story onstage. In 1955 Sills cofounded the Compass Players, but it was with Second City that he found long-lasting success. In 1968 he developed the story-theatre form, in which actors narrated and acted out folktales and legends. Paul Sills' Story Theatre debuted (1970) on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1971. Using the story-theatre model, Sills helped create (1988) the New Actors Workshop in New York City, where he taught and directed until 2003. He then he retired to his home in Wisconsin to direct community theatre. Sills wrote the book Paul Sills' Story Theatre: Four Shows (1999).

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