A. R. Gurney facts for kids

Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (born November 1, 1930 – died June 13, 2017), also known as Pete Gurney, was an American playwright, novelist, and professor. He was famous for his plays like The Dining Room (1982), Sweet Sue (1986/7), and The Cocktail Hour (1988). His play Love Letters was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Gurney's plays often looked at the lives of upper-class Americans, sometimes called "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant). People said his plays were "witty studies" of this group.

Early Life and Education

Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York, on November 1, 1930. His father, Albert Ramsdell Gurney Sr., worked in insurance and real estate. His mother was Marion Spaulding. Albert Jr. was the middle of three children.

His family had a history of important people. His great-great-grandfather, Elbridge G. Spaulding, was a former Mayor of Buffalo. He also served in the United States House of Representatives. Spaulding helped the U.S. economy during the Civil War by supporting new currency.

Gurney went to private schools, including Nichols School in Buffalo. He then graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He studied at Williams College, finishing in 1952. Later, he earned a degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1958. After college, he started teaching at MIT.

Career as a Writer

After graduating from Yale in 1958, Gurney taught English and Latin for a year. He then became a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1960 to 1996. He taught humanities and literature there.

While teaching at MIT, Gurney started writing plays. Some of his early works include Children and The Middle Ages. His big breakthrough came with The Dining Room. This play was so successful that it allowed him to become a full-time writer.

After The Dining Room, Gurney wrote many more plays. Most of them explored the lives of upper-class families in the American northeast. He was known for being a very productive writer, always working on something new.

His play The David Show was his first in New York in 1968. In 2015, his play Love and Money premiered. It was about an older woman planning what to do with her wealth. Another play, The Grand Manner, was about his real-life meeting with famous actress Katharine Cornell. Gurney also acted in some of his own plays, like The Dining Room and Love Letters.

Personal Life

In June 1957, Gurney married Molly Goodyear. They lived in Boston for many years. In 1983, they moved to New York. This move helped Gurney be closer to the theater world.

Albert and Molly Gurney had four children:

• George Goodyear Gurney
• Amy Ramsdell Gurney
• Evelyn "Evie" R. Gurney
• Benjamin Gurney

Death

A. R. Gurney passed away at his home in Manhattan on June 13, 2017. He was 86 years old.

Awards and Honors

Gurney received several important awards for his writing:

• In 2006, he became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
• In 2007, he won the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award. This award recognized him as a master American playwright.
• In 2016, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Obie Awards. This award celebrates excellence in off-Broadway theater.

Literary Work

Themes in His Plays

A. R. Gurney's plays often looked at the lives of upper-class "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) families in modern America. The Wall Street Journal said his works were "witty studies" of this group as their influence changed. Many of his plays, like The Cocktail Hour and Indian Blood, were inspired by his own upbringing.

Frank Rich, a theater critic for The New York Times, once wrote that Gurney was the best at writing about upper-middle-class WASPs. He said Gurney showed this group in a unique way.

In his 1988 play, "The Cocktail Hour", a character says that theater critics "don't like us.... They resent us." The New York Times described the play as clever observations about a wealthy group that thought therapy was rude. They also believed that having staff was their right.

Gurney once told The Washington Post in 1982 that WASPs have their own culture. He said they have "traditions, quirks, particular signals and totems." He felt that this culture was old enough to be looked at with humor and appreciation. He believed there were good things about it, like "a closeness of family, a commitment to duty, to stoic responsibility."

Plays

Novels

Gurney also wrote several novels:

• The Snow Ball (1984)
• The Gospel According to Joe (1974)
• Entertaining Strangers (1977)
• Early American (1996)

Screenplays

He wrote screenplays for movies too:

• The House of Mirth (1972)
• Sylvia (1995)