Willie Hammerstein two Eunuch Servants." Hammerstein also put on novelties like Don the Talking Dog. Sports celebrities like boxer James J. Corbett and baseball pitcher Rube Marquard also drew audiences. Hammerstein was unusual in making a sharp separation between his work in the theater, which he loved, and his home life. He would not pose for a photograph, and told his press agents not to use his name in publicity. Hammerstein married Alice Nimmo in 1893, and they had two sons, Oscar and Reginald. They lived at 315 Central Park West. His wife died in 1910 and he married her sister, Annie
James Hammerstein Richard Rodgers. The first play he produced was "Blue Denim", by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble, and the first play he directed was the comedy "Absence of a Cello" in 1964. The "New York Times" wrote: "James Hammerstein has staged the piece with a great deal of verve." His other directing credits include "The Indian Wants the Bronx", "Wise Child" and "Butley". Hammerstein directed the New York City Opera production of "The Sound of Music" in 1990. He co-directed the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical "State Fair" in 1996. Among the other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals he directed were