King Lear

Overview

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.

Directed by Edwin Sherin

Top cast

James Earl Jones

King Lear

D

Douglass Watson

Kent

Paul Sorvino

Gloucester

Raúl Juliá

Edmund

Rosalind Cash

Goneril

Lee Chamberlin

Cordelia

Ellen Holly

Regan

R

Robert Stattel

Albany

R

Robert Lanchester

Cornwall

L

Lou Quinones

Burgundy

J

Jean-Pierre Stewart

France

René Auberjonois

Edgar

Frederick Coffin

Oswald

Tom Aldredge

Fool

George Dzundza

Gentleman

J

John R. Tobinski

Curan

James Harper

First Servant to Cornwall

Anthony Chisholm

Servant to Cornwall

Franklyn Seales

Servant to Cornwall

C

Charles Pegues

Old Man

Details