Tyrone Guthrie (1900-1971) was an English theater director, largely responsible for the founding of the Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario, and of the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis.

Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Tyrone Guthrie was the great-grandson of the Irish actor Tyrone Power. As a schoolboy Guthrie soon showed an interest in the theater, music, and writing. At Oxford University he studied history and was an active member of the Dramatic Society. In 1923 he joined the newly-founded Oxford Playhouse. However, the company's director, James B. Fagan, developed little confidence in Guthrie's acting abilities and did not re-hire him the following season.

Guthrie then accepted a job as a broadcaster for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in Belfast and soon began to produce plays over the air. His success as a radio director led him back to the theater and to a directing position with the Scottish National Players in...