Harold Edgar Clurman was an American theater director and drama critic, most famous for being one of the three original founders of the New York City's Group Theater. He was drama critic for The New Republic and The Nation .

Clurman was born in New York City. He was Jewish, and according to Lulla Rosenfeld, his interest in theater was first inspired by Yiddish theater, in particular Jacob Adler's performances in Yiddish translations of Karl Gutzkow's Uriel Acosta and Lessing's Nathan the Wise. .