Gene Worthington is no stranger to the stage. He has performed in community and professional theatre for the past thirty years. He toured the play Bully, a one-man show about Teddy Roosevelt, along with several other WV Enterprises productions. Gene appeared with his wife, Karen Vuranch, in The Gift of the Magi, The Lincoln's of Springfield and murder mystery performances at state parks in West Virginia.

Worthington currently performs several living history characters. He brings his passion baseball history to the stage with his presentation of Babe Ruth. His performance of Simon Kenton recreates American frontier history and his also performs labor organizer John L. Lewis. Gene also presents Teddy Roosevelt in living history form as well as in a full length play Bully.

In addition, Gene has served as the Artistic Director of the Historic Fayette Theater in Fayetteville, West Virginia for the past 17 years. During that time, he has directed over 25 productions, served as technical director for many of the shows and even found time to perform on the stage of the Historic Fayette Theater. His most memorable roles were the Troll in Jack and the Giant, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood and the Director in Play On, to name a few. Most recently, he starred as Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie and went to the state competition with that role, taking third place. As Director, his shows include the popular Smoke on the Mountain, which toured Wales and England in 2000, and Grace and Glorie, which took first place at the state competition and represented West Virginia in the regional competition.

Worthington has worked on training films for the Department of Mine Safety and was an extra in the movie Matewan, a major motion picture about the coal mine wars of West Virginia, and in the movie We Are Marshall, the moving story of the Marshall University’s return to football after a tragic plane crash. Gene is retired from the Fayette County School system after 30 years of teaching and serving as an administrator.