Reports: Faye Dunaway fired from play after slapping crew member, creating 'hostile' environment

Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Actress Faye Dunaway has been fired from her role in the one-woman play about Katharine Hepburn after reportedly upholding her rumored reputation for being difficult to work with.

The New York Times reported that the 78-year-old actress just ended what was initially a pre-Broadway run of "Tea at Five" in Boston. The play will now debut on the West End instead of Broadway.

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"The producers of 'Tea at Five' announced today that they have terminated their relationship with Faye Dunaway," producers of the play said in a brief statement Wednesday, according to The New York Times. "Plans are in development for the play to have its West End debut early next year with a new actress to play the role of Katharine Hepburn."

The statement didn't prove an explanation of Dunaway's termination, but it came after a New York Post report that Dunaway created a "hostile" and "dangerous" environment, according to several unnamed sources. Those unnamed sources told The Post a July 10 show was canceled because Dunaway slapped a crew member and threw things at others who were trying to put on her wig. The New York Times reported that the producers declined to elaborate on their statement on Dunaway's termination, and a representative for the actress did not return its request for comment.

"Tea at Five" was written by Matthew Lombardo in 2002 and is about Hepburn's recovery from a 1983 car accident.

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