Obituary of Joan Marlowe Rahe

Joan Marlowe Rahe, a former actress and for half a century, co-publisher, with the late Betty Blake, of the Theatre Information Bulletin, died Thursday, March 6, in a New Cannan, CT nursing home. She was 88 years old. She was a resident of Darien, CT and the Thousand Islands in Ontario, Canada. Born on January 7, 1920 in Ithaca, New York where her father was city editor of the Ithaca Journal, and her mother was in early silent films known as "Cliffhangers." Rahe helped pioneer independent news reporting about the production of plays and musicals on and Off-Broadway, in regional theater and summer stock, She graduated from Ithaca High School at 16 before going to Stephens College to study acting with the legendary Maude Adams. Adams had toured America in the title role of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" for years. After studying at Cornell University she left there to pursue a professional acting career in regional theater and New York. On Broadway she appeared in "Mr. and Mrs. North" from Jan. 12, 1941 to May 21, 1941, and acted in many other plays in summer stock and regional theater. She married drama critic and columnist Ward Morehouse, then with the old New York Sun, in 1941. The marriage ended in divorce eight years later. She was on the staff of Newsweek Magazine before starting to co-publish and edit the Theatre Information Bulletin in 1944. She took over that publication from the late Sam Zolotow, who for many years was a theater columnist for the New York Times. In 1964, she and Ms. Blake purchased Theatre Critics' Reviews, a compendium of theater reviews from newspapers and magazines dating back to 1940. She and Blake sold this publication to Playbill 30 years later before the Internet permitted widespread access to reviews and other newspaper stories. She was co-author of the book "The Keys to Broadway," published in 1951 and Broadway Inside the Last Decade, 1954. She served as President of the Outer Critics' Circle and New Drama Forum, an offshoot of the Drama Desk organization of reporters and columnists. A longtime fixture at opening nights and at theater haunts like Sardi's and the "21" Club, syndicated columnist and radio personality Jack O'Brien once said that she "was far more glamorous than most of stars on stage." In 1952, she married Roderic Warren Rahe, a former World War II U.S. Navy officer and chemist and the couple had two children, Roderic Warren Rahe, Jr., a former legislative director for the late Connecticut Congressman Stewart B. McKinney and currently an IBM Public Sector Managing Consultant, and the late Christopher Williams Rahe, a tennis pro. She leaves her husband, Roderic Warren Rahe of Darien, CT, Roderic Warren Rahe, Jr., and by her first marriage, Ward Morehouse III, author and theater columnist. She also leaves four grandchildren, William Ward Morehouse, Madeline Rose Rahe, Christopher Peter Rahe and Samuel Cole Rahe. A memorial service will be held on March 15 at 2:00 PM at the Noroton Presbyterian Chapel, 2011 Post Road in Darien, CT. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Stephens College, 1200 East Broadway, Columbia, MO 65215. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820