Volunteer of the Year Award

In 1977, Harvey Cocks Jr. received the phone call that would change his life and the lives of thousands of young artists.  The call was from Fort Wayne Youtheatre looking for a new Director.  Having worked primarily on Broadway, television and in stock, Harvey accepted the job, but figured he’d only stay a few years.  In the end, Harvey led as Youtheatre’s Executive/Artistic Director until 2010, when he became Artist-in-Residence, for a total of 45 years.

At Youtheatre, he found his true calling, making better actors and better people of all who entered its halls.  During his tenure, he taught thousands of students in over 800 Saturdays of acting classes and directed hundreds of plays and musicals, many of which he wrote himself.  Among his most popular plays was The Boy from Fairmount, in which he chronicled the life of another Hoosier actor he knew from their New York days, James Dean.  In 2014, Harvey celebrated his beloved Youtheatre’s 80th anniversary by writing and directing his final play, an adaptation of The Steadfast Tin Soldier.  He taught his final class in 2019 at age 94.  Even after that, he remained a constant and vital presence at the theatre, which most recently revived his adaptation of A Christmas Carol in 2020.  Even in his mid-90s, it took a global pandemic to stop him from coming into the theatre three days a week.

In 2019, Youtheatre’s annual “Volunteer of the Year” Award was named in his honor at a ceremony in which Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry declared it “Harvey Cocks Day” and Youtheatre awarded him its first ever “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Harvey’s most lasting professional achievement is his profound effect on the generations of young performers who owe their confidence, poise, love of the arts and, in many cases, their careers to his direction, care and encouragement.  It is with his commitment, work ethic, compassion and love of theatre in mind that we annually honor the “Harvey Cocks Volunteers of the Year.”