Robert Heide (1934–2025)

Robert Heide (born Robert William Heitke) was an American playwright, author, essayist, and major figure of the early Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He studied theater at Northwestern University under Alvina Krause and relocated to Greenwich Village in the late 1950s, joining the creative circle of The Living Theatre and forging close artistic bonds with Edward Albee. Throughout the 1960s, he emerged as a resident writer at the landmark Caffe Cino. Heide collaborated closely with artist Andy Warhol, writing screenplays and acting in Factory projects; Warhol subsequently adapted Heide's stage work into an iconic experimental film. Later in life, Heide co-authored several books cataloging American popular culture and collectible art alongside his long-term domestic partner and spouse, John Gilman. He lived openly as a gay man and witnessed the 1969 Stonewall Uprising firsthand.