Haggott, John

John Haggott was born in Denver, and was the son of the late Warren A. Haggott, who had been a United States Congressman and Lieutenant Governor of Colorado.The younger Mr. Haggott studied architecture at Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1935. A year later he joined the Theater Guild and was associated for many years with its Westport Country Playhouse.

In 1943, with Margaret Webster, he produced “Othello” in New York, with Paul Robeson and Jose Ferrer heading the cast. In 1946, with Maurice Evans, he produced “Macbeth,” also on Broadway. Mr. Haggott later became a freelance director of such plays as “The Streets Are Guarded,” “The Firebrand” and “Foxhole in the Parlor.”

Afterward, he joined Columbia Pictures and produced five feature films for Harry Cohn. He was believed to have developed a system for infrared exterior photography known as the matting technique. Returning to New York in 1949, Mr. Haggott presented Celeste Holm in “Affairs of State,” acting as co‐director. In 1951, he joined the Columbia Broadcasting System as producer and director for two seasons of television's “Westinghouse Summer Theater” and “Studio One.”

In 1953, he returned to the Theater Guild and produced the “United States Steel Hour” on TV, with which he stayed for several years. He also produced “The House on High Street,” one of the first dramatic presentations of psychiatric methods on television.In 1962 Mr. Haggott returned to his first love and joined I. M. Pel Associates of New York, architects, from which he was on leave at his death on August 20, 1964.