UNIONDALE, NY / ACCESS Newswire / June 24, 2025 / Marquis Who's Who honors Willette Murphy Klausner for her distinguished career in the field of performing arts. She was recently spotlighted in New York's Times Square on a 22-story screen that is passed by an estimated 1.5 million people daily.
Drawing from over four decades of inimitable experience in the performing arts, Ms. Klausner has earned distinction as the founder and president of Edgework Productions and WMK Productions Inc., theatrical and film production companies, since 1981.
Ms. Klausner is best noted for her ability to produce and invest in a wide variety of successful projects including award-winning shows that have premiered on Broadway and London's West End, including "MJ the Musical," "Hadestown," "Glengarry Glen Ross," Good Night and Good Luck," "Maybe Happy Ending," "Buena Vista Social Club" and "Sister Act," to name only a few. This season, 15 of her shows have garnered 68 Tony Award nominations.
Ms. Klausner has garnered acclaim as a lifelong pioneer in virtually every field she has touched. Putting herself through college at the University of California Los Angeles, she distinguished herself as the first Black senior class president and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in economics, after which she undertook coursework at the Wood Tobé-Coburn School (formerly the Tobé-Coburn School for Fashion Careers).
Following this period, Ms. Klausner continued to make history as the first Black model to appear in Mademoiselle, an American fashion magazine, and the first Black merchandising executive at Bloomingdale's.
After another first, working as a top fashion model for renowned Danish designer Jean Voight, Ms. Klausner sought to reconnect with her economics roots, joining Audience Studies Inc., the film industry's premier marketing and advertising research firm.
Her work at ASI led Universal Studios' renowned studio chief, Lew Wasserman, to select her to establish the film industry's first professional market research department. Marking another milestone, Ms. Klausner became the first Black and first female vice president at MCA Universal Studios. During her tenure from 1975 to 1981, Universal produced iconic blockbusters including "Jaws," "Slap Shot," "Earthquake," "Airport," "The Deer Hunter," "Same Time, Next Year," "1941" and "The Jerk."
After leaving Universal, Ms. Klausner founded her own entertainment production companies. While managing a demanding production schedule, she has dedicated time to serve as a board member for the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, a mentor for the Front Row Productions Fellowship at Columbia University and a board director for the Los Angeles Music Center and the Women in Film Foundation. Additionally, Ms. Klausner has sustained her involvement with the American Cinema Foundation, the Advisory Board of Women in Film, the League of Professional Theatre Women, and the International Women's Forum of Southern California - The Trusteeship.
In accounting for Ms. Klausner's success, she credits the influence of her parents, who instilled in her the values of hard work, perseverance and following her dreams. Looking toward the future, she aspires to finish the projects she has been working on for several years-including "Cosette," a follow-up to the beloved musical "Les Misérables" and "Sad as Hell - the Peter Finch Story."
About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms worldwide. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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SOURCE: Marquis Who's Who
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