Following a youthful foray into performing, and an early tutelage under Lee Shubert, Mr. Kenley found his true calling as a producer. His ever-morphing producing career started in the summer of 1940 in Deer Lake, PA, when he converted a Greek Byzantine church into a summer theatre and served as a producer-director. His operation was known as The Kenley Players. Following service in World War II he returned to Deer Lake and then moved to Barnesville, PA, to continue his summer theatre operation until 1953. He presented plays in York, PA, Hershey, PA and other cities before settling in Ohio.

In 1948, Mr. Kenley presented his first musical, Good News. In 1953, he produced an original play, Sassy Little Lassie.

Mr. Kenley's career as perhaps the greatest summer stock showman of the mid-20th century began when he moved to the refurbished Memorial Hall in Dayton in 1957. One year later he opened a theatre in Warren, OH, followed by one in Vets Memorial in Columbus, in 1960. His Warren operation moved in 1978 to EJ Thomas Hall in Akron, OH, and for a short time into the Akron Civic Theatre. The Kenley Players, servicing the Buckeye State's theatregoing public with plays and musicals featuring high production values and name stars, continued into the 1980s. It would be hard to find a lifelong actor or designer with Midwestern roots who did not work for Mr. Kenley sometime in their career.

Kevin Moore, executive director of Human Race Theatre, an Equity theatre in Dayton, OH, told Playbill.com on Oct. 29, "I worked a number of years with Kenley, both in administration and as a performer. He is the real reason we are able to do live theatre in Dayton, because he cultivated the original audience every summer for many years. He was shrewd and kind at the same time — and he remembered everything! He was a legend — and there will never be another like him. And he will be missed."

Other stars Mr. Kenley hosted included Gypsy Rose Lee, Arthur Godfrey, Burt Reynolds, Mae West, Billy Crystal, William Shatner, Betty White, Florence Henderson, Mitzi Gaynor and Robert Goulet.

A 1969 foray into the Miami scene, at the Hotel Plaza was cut short after only six productions. In 1975, the producer tried his hand at writing, producing his own play The Cooch Dance. In 1984 Mr. Kenley moved into the Playhouse Square Center in downtown Cleveland, which included the 3,000-seat State Theatre.

Mr. Kenley was, in his time, a trailblazer. In 1950, he became the first producer on record to bring desegregation into live theatre in Washington, DC. He was also something of an eccentric. He would sometimes put make-up on his dog, Sadie. And stars of Kenley productions were often startled by an opening night party tradition, in which the first dance with the leading man was reserved for Mr. Kenley.

He was born John Kremchek. His family moved to the Tremont area of Cleveland from Denver, CO, when John was a teenager. From Cleveland he moved to New York City to become an actor, dancer and comic. Producer John Murray Anderson suggested he change his name to Kenley. He appeared in nightclubs, on Broadway (in the musical Hit the Deck) and in vaudeville. In New York, he sang, he danced and he did impressions, not only of Al Jolson and Maurice Chevalier, but Beatrice Lillie and Ethel Barrymore. When success as a performer proved elusive, he took a job in 1930 as assistant to producer and theatre owner Lee Shubert, one of the original Shubert brothers. As Shubert's assistant, he did many jobs including performing the important role of script reader.

Charitable donations may be made to the Cleveland Animal Protective League (www.clevelandapl.com). Those interested in posting messages or sharing favorite stories and photographs should visit www.kenleyplayers.com.

In a final tribute to Mr. Kenley, PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland, OH, will dim the marquee lights Oct. 29 at 8 PM.