
175 minutes
2/20/1974
James Earl Jones delivers a riveting performance as paranoid patriarch King Lear, an aging monarch who insists that his three daughters prove their love for him, only to learn he's exalted the two who seek to destroy him. This live performance recording of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production deftly envisions the bard's haunting tragedy with a fine supporting cast, including Raul Julia, Paul Sorvino and Rene Auberjonois.

James Earl Jones
as King Lear
Douglass Watson
as Kent

Paul Sorvino
as Gloucester

Raúl Juliá
as Edmund

Rosalind Cash
as Goneril

Lee Chamberlin
as Cordelia

Ellen Holly
as Regan
Robert Stattel
as Albany
Robert Lanchester
as Cornwall
Lou Quinones
as Burgundy
Jean-Pierre Stewart
as France

René Auberjonois
as Edgar

Frederick Coffin
as Oswald

Tom Aldredge
as Fool

George Dzundza
as Gentleman
John R. Tobinski
as Curan

James Harper
as First Servant to Cornwall

Anthony Chisholm
as Servant to Cornwall

Franklyn Seales
as Servant to Cornwall
Charles Pegues
as Old Man
Redvers Jeanmarie
as Messenger
William Hart
as Doctor
Gregory Mosher
as Messenger

Frankie Faison
as Captain
George Addison
as Herald
James West III
as Gentleman
Jose Machado
as Attendant
Simpson Markson
as Attendant
Kevin Maung
as Attendant
John Salat
as Attendant