John Lee Beatty is a set designer best known for his work in both Broadway and Off-Broadway theater. He began his career Off-Broadway working for Circle Repertory Theatre and has gone on to design the sets for over 130 shows for companies such as Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, and The Public. His Off-Broadway credits include: BATTLE OF ANGELS (1974), THE MOUND BUILDERS (1975), KNOCK  KNOCK (1976), THE WATER ENGINE (1977), ASHES (1977), A LIFE IN THE THEATRE (1978), FIFTH OF JULY (1978), TALLEY’S FOLLY(1979) CRIMES OF THE HEART (1980), THE MIDDLE AGES (1983), THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST (1984), AFTER THE FALL (1984), PRINCIPIA SCRIPTORIAE (1986), LOOT (1986), BURN THIS (1987), ROAD TO MECCA  (1988), THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE (1991), THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG (1992), LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART (1992), SYLVIA (1995), LONDON SUITE (1995), ONE TOUCH OF VENUS (1996), THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP (1998), PROOF (2000), BOOK OF DAYS (2003), MY OLD LADY (2003) DOUBT (2004), ENGAGED (2005),OTHER DESERT CITIES (2011), SCHOOL FOR  LIES (2011), VENUS IN FUR (2010), THE WHIPPING MAN (2011)DADA WOOF PAPA HOT (2015), and SWEAT (2016). For his work Off-Broadway, he has been nominated for numerous awards, winning five Henry Hewes Design Awards, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. In 1993, he received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work. 

John Lee Beatty was born in Palo Alto and raised in Claremont, California. He graduated with a degree in English from Brown University and studied set and costume design at the Yale School of Drama, where he was trained by Ming Cho Lee. He designed the sets for 115 Broadway shows, including Knock Knock (1976), Ain’t Misbehavin’(1978), Fifth of July (1980), Crimes of the Heart (1981), Burn This (1987), The Most Happy Fella (1992), The SistersRosensweig (1993), The Heiress (1995), A Delicate Balance (1996), Chicago (1996), Proof (2000), Doubt (2005), The Color Purple (2005), Rabbit Hole (2006), A View from the Bridge (2010), Good People (2011), Other Desert Cities(2011), Venus in Fur (2011), After Midnight (2013), Disgraced (2014), Sweat (2017), and Junk (2017). For his work on Broadway, he has been nominated for 15 Tony Awards, receiving two for his work on Talley’s Folly (1980) and The Nance (2013), and eight Drama Desk Awards, winning two for Dinner at Eight (2003) and Twentieth Century (2004). In 2013, he received a special citation from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2003.