Abigail Hubbell, a multi-talented actress and theater owner, was born as Abigail Calachaly Hubbell on September 18, 1940, in Manhattan, New York. Her parents, William Warner Hubbell III, a subway conductor, and Helen Johnson Hubbell, a celebrated Harlem Renaissance writer, instilled in Abigail her love of the Lively Arts. Abigail was raised in Brooklyn but graduated from Washington Irving High School in Manhattan in 1958. She then enrolled at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, where she majored in theater arts and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962.
Abigail McGrath in “Tub Girls” (The MVTimes)
In 1967, Hubbell made her mark in the film industry with her role in Tub Girls, a project by Andy Warhol that involved Viva, the film’s main character, entertaining various guests in the bathtub, one of whom was Abigail.
In 1969, she co-founded the Off-Center Theater in Manhattan with her first husband, Anthony McGrath. Together, they produced a variety of works, including political satire, experimental pieces, plays by William Shakespeare, and free traditional theater for children. Many of their performances took place in inner-city neighborhoods, as well as in streets and parks.
In 2001, McGrath founded the Renaissance House Writers and Artists Retreat in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. This retreat provided a space for writers to address and discuss issues of racial justice in the United States. Each year McGrath read Frederick Douglass‘s speech, ‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?’, a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality.
As a columnist, McGrath wrote commentaries on many topics through the years. In the later years of her life, much of her work was posted in The Martha’s Vineyard Times, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. In 2022, she wrote “The real reason Malcolm X was assassinated” and “Empty Houses on Martha’s Vineyard.” In 2023, some of the topics were “Three Holidays in January,” “Four Fine Island Whines: Not Chardonnay or Montrachet,” “Contribute to Mamma’s Day Bail Out,” and “It’s not easy being Green — or Black.” Months before she began showing severe signs of her illness in the middle of 2024, she penned “Tortured Poets ‘Tailored’ for our needs?” and “What’s wrong with being old?”
Abigail McGrath (The MVTimes)
McGrath was married twice. Her first marriage was to Leonard Rosen, a classmate at Bard College, with whom she had a son, Jason Rosen. Years later, she married Anthony McGrath. Together, they were the parents of Benson McGrath. Both relationships were characterized by a shared commitment to creativity and social activism.
On December 20, 2024, Abigail Calachaly Hubbell Rosen McGrath died in Manhattan, New York, from Cancer of the Liver. She was 84.
