Levitt next turned to treatment as a play, called The Andersonville Trial, which opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on December 29, 1959, and ran for 179 performances.[2] The production was directed by José Ferrer and opened with George C. Scott as Chipman, Herbert Berghof as Wirz, Albert Dekker as Wirz's defense counsel, and Russell Hardie as Union general Lew Wallace, who presided over the court-martial. Ian Keith, who played Dr. John C. Bates, an Andersonville camp surgeon and key witness for the prosecution regarding the fate of Union prisoners, died during the show's run and was replaced by Douglas Herrick.[3]
Scott later recalled that what he found most difficult about playing Chipman onstage was that the defendant Wirz came across as a tragic, sympathetic victim, although his negligence, according to the verdict, had a great deal to do with the deplorable conditions at Andersonville. Meanwhile, he felt the audience was compelled to dislike Chipman, despite being essentially the hero of the story due to his efforts to obtain justice for all the men who suffered and died at the camp.[4]
Instead of acting, Scott returned as a director when Levitt created an adaptation of the play for television. The production aired May 17, 1970 on NET, now featuring William Shatner as Chipman, Richard Basehart as Wirz, Jack Cassidy as Wirz's defense counsel, Cameron Mitchell as Wallace, and Buddy Ebsen as Dr. Bates. In the course of filming Shatner, who was recently divorced, met for the first time the woman who became his second wife, Marcy Lafferty.[5]
Lou Frizzell as Jasper Culver - (Frizzell had been cast as a soldier in the play. Although Scott returned to direct, Frizzell was the only member of the original Broadway cast to appear on camera in the PBS production. Robert Gerringer played the part of Culver on Broadway.)
^Probst, Leonard (1 January 1976). Off Camera: Leveling about Themselves. Madison Books. ISBN0812824733.
^Kempler, Rita (December 6, 1991). "Star Trek VI: Energized". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 21, 2023.. Recalling their meeting 20 years later, Lafferty misremembered which actors played which parts.
