Academy Award-winning actress Joanne Woodward is helping raise money to refurbish her high school's auditorium in Greenville, S.C., as a tribute to a drama teacher who inspired her.
Woodward was a student of Robert Hemphill McLane, who directed her at Greenville High School and at Greenville Little Theater, where he was director for 30 years, The Greenville News reported Sunday."Robert McLane touched a lot of people in this town, and we felt like we would use that . . . as a lasting memorial to him," said William Orders, acting chairman of a group of graduates trying to raise $100,000.
Woodward, who graduated from the school in 1947, is honorary chairwoman of the effort. In a letter to the alumni association, she wrote, "Isn't it a shame that we weren't able to do this while Bob was alive?"
McLane died last year.
Woodward won an Oscar for "Three Faces of Eve."