Mary Lea Johnson Richards, a founder and partner of the Producer Circle, a New York film and theatrical production company, died May 3, 1990 at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she had a liver transplant two weeks before. She was 63 years old and had homes in New York, Southampton, L.I., and Boca Raton, Fla.
Since it was formed in 1976, the Producer Circle - founded by Mrs. Richards with her husband, Martin Richards, Robert Fryer and James Cresson - won 22 Tony Awards. It produced such Broadway shows as ''On the Twentieth Century,'' ''Sweeney Todd,'' ''La Cage aux Folles,'' ''Crimes of the Heart,'' which won a Pulitzer Prize, and ''Grand Hotel.'' Its Off Broadway productions included ''March of the Falsettos'' and ''Mayor.'' Among the company's films were ''The Boys From Brazil,'' ''The Shining'' and ''Fort Apache, the Bronx.''
Mrs. Richards was born on Aug. 20, 1926, in New Brunswick, N.J. She was the oldest daughter of J. Seward Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, and his first wife, Ruth Dill Johnson. She was a graduate of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Johnson's first marriage was to William Ryan, a press agent turned farmer. Before they divorced, the pair had six children. She married Dr. Victor D'Arc, a psychiatrist, in 1972. Johnson's third marriage to Martin Richards would last until her death
Since it was formed in 1976, the Producer Circle - founded by Mrs. Richards with her husband, Martin Richards, Robert Fryer and James Cresson - won 22 Tony Awards. It produced such Broadway shows as ''On the Twentieth Century,'' ''Sweeney Todd,'' ''La Cage aux Folles,'' ''Crimes of the Heart,'' which won a Pulitzer Prize, and ''Grand Hotel.'' Its Off Broadway productions included ''March of the Falsettos'' and ''Mayor.'' Among the company's films were ''The Boys From Brazil,'' ''The Shining'' and ''Fort Apache, the Bronx.''
Mrs. Richards was born on Aug. 20, 1926, in New Brunswick, N.J. She was the oldest daughter of J. Seward Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, and his first wife, Ruth Dill Johnson. She was a graduate of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Johnson's first marriage was to William Ryan, a press agent turned farmer. Before they divorced, the pair had six children. She married Dr. Victor D'Arc, a psychiatrist, in 1972. Johnson's third marriage to Martin Richards would last until her death
Mary Lea Johnson Richards, a founder and partner of the Producer Circle, a New York film and theatrical production company, died May 3, 1990 at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she had a liver transplant two weeks before. She was 63 years old and had homes in New York, Southampton, L.I., and Boca Raton, Fla.
Since it was formed in 1976, the Producer Circle - founded by Mrs. Richards with her husband, Martin Richards, Robert Fryer and James Cresson - won 22 Tony Awards. It produced such Broadway shows as ''On the Twentieth Century,'' ''Sweeney Todd,'' ''La Cage aux Folles,'' ''Crimes of the Heart,'' which won a Pulitzer Prize, and ''Grand Hotel.'' Its Off Broadway productions included ''March of the Falsettos'' and ''Mayor.'' Among the company's films were ''The Boys From Brazil,'' ''The Shining'' and ''Fort Apache, the Bronx.''
Mrs. Richards was born on Aug. 20, 1926, in New Brunswick, N.J. She was the oldest daughter of J. Seward Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, and his first wife, Ruth Dill Johnson. She was a graduate of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Johnson's first marriage was to William Ryan, a press agent turned farmer. Before they divorced, the pair had six children. She married Dr. Victor D'Arc, a psychiatrist, in 1972. Johnson's third marriage to Martin Richards would last until her death
Since it was formed in 1976, the Producer Circle - founded by Mrs. Richards with her husband, Martin Richards, Robert Fryer and James Cresson - won 22 Tony Awards. It produced such Broadway shows as ''On the Twentieth Century,'' ''Sweeney Todd,'' ''La Cage aux Folles,'' ''Crimes of the Heart,'' which won a Pulitzer Prize, and ''Grand Hotel.'' Its Off Broadway productions included ''March of the Falsettos'' and ''Mayor.'' Among the company's films were ''The Boys From Brazil,'' ''The Shining'' and ''Fort Apache, the Bronx.''
Mrs. Richards was born on Aug. 20, 1926, in New Brunswick, N.J. She was the oldest daughter of J. Seward Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, and his first wife, Ruth Dill Johnson. She was a graduate of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Johnson's first marriage was to William Ryan, a press agent turned farmer. Before they divorced, the pair had six children. She married Dr. Victor D'Arc, a psychiatrist, in 1972. Johnson's third marriage to Martin Richards would last until her death
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