Ed Wittstein was educated at the Parsons School of Design and New York University; he also attended Cooper Union and studied at Irwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop. Wittstein went on to design for theatrical and operatic productions for television in the United States and Europe. An early success for Wittstein was the long-running 1960 production of The Fantasticks.
Wittstein's versatility led him to venture into the film industry, designing for Woody Allen's Bananas and Play it Again, Sam.
Leaving New York, he became active at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park, welcoming the change in environment. His work there included not only the usual challenges of stage design, but clarifying concepts of what a theatre structure should be -- exploring new approaches to housing the drama. He comments "very often I am brought in by the directors and the producers to help choose the theatre itself...very often the architectural aspects of Off-Broadway theatres have lead me to do some of my best and most interesting designs." (Theatre Crafts, Jan/Feb. 1971)