L. Kirk Denmark, 66, of 803 Park Avenue, founder of Court Theater, a director for Stage One Theater group of Rock County and Professor Emeritus at Beloit College since a year after his early retirement in 1973, died on Wednesday, December 1, 1982, of an apparent heart attack.

Denmark’s name is synonymous with Beloit College’s Court Theater in the minds of many theatergoers. According to Frank Wong, Vice President in charge of Academic Affairs at the college, Kirk Denmark was an inspiration and formative influence on three decades of Beloit College students. Without him there would have been no Court Theater, and without Court Theater, Beloit College’s substantial reputation in the theater world would not have existed.

He demanded much of those who worked with him and even more of himself. As a result, generations of Beloit area theatergoers were entertained, enthralled, and enriched by drama of the highest quality.

Denmark had been widely known in the area for his direction of theater works since coming to the Beloit College campus in 1946—still in Navy uniform—to create a department of speech and dramatic arts. He held the position of Department Chairman until relinquishing that duty in the fall of 1973.

He also founded Court Theater in 1951 and directed 303 plays in 23 years for Court Theater, the summer professional theater, and for student productions before his retirement.

Beloit College President Roger Hull said, “Our revival of summer theater at Beloit was inspired by the Court Theater that Kirk Denmark created. He was and is a continuing presence in our current theater revival.”

Alumnus Jim Sullivan, founder of the New American Theater in Rockford and the artistic director of the Summer Festival Theater, was taught by Kirk Denmark. The legacy of Kirk Denmark remains at Beloit College and will continue to grow with the future.

The new theater in the Cultural Center at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County in Janesville is named in honor of Denmark. The theater company is in residence on the UW Rock Campus. Denmark directed the first Stage One Production.

Before he left Beloit College, Denmark completed work with Jean Rosenthal for the new Neese Theater complex at Beloit College. He then directed Our Town as the inaugural production in the new theater in 1975.

After his retirement from Beloit College, he taught a graduate course in university theater in St. Paul. He worked with Rockford College and Starlight Theater at Rock Valley College. He had studied, performed, directed, judged, and been a consultant in most states of the union and in other countries.

Recent travels took him to Russia with the U.S. Ballet Team. At the time of his death, he was preparing a trip to New York to attend ballet and theater productions.

Denmark earned his B.A. from Southwest Missouri State University in 1938, his Ph.M. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1942, and his M.A. from Yale University in 1943. Denmark graduated from high school in Springfield, Missouri in 1934.

He served as a radar officer during World War II for the Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war. He studied in France and London.

He founded the Springfield Little Theater in Missouri while studying for his B.A. degree. He was a member of Actor’s Equity Association, American Theater Association, the National Society of Literature and the Arts, and the National Collegiate Players. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the American National Theater and Academy in 1965 and was included in the first edition of the Biographical Encyclopedia and Who’s Who in American Theater published in 1966.

Survivors include aunts and uncles and a sister-in-law, Mrs. William Denmark of Springfield, Missouri.