Arnold Sundgaard facts for kids

Arnold Olaf Sundgaard (born October 31, 1909 – died October 22, 2006) was an American writer who created plays, operas, and song lyrics. He also wrote short stories and books for children. Sundgaard was a college professor who taught about drama and theater. He is best known for his work on six plays that were shown on Broadway, which is a famous theater district in New York City.

Early Life and Education

Arnold Sundgaard was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His family came from Norway. He went to Johnson Senior High School in Saint Paul. After high school, he studied at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned a degree in English in 1935. He also studied drama at the Yale Drama School.

Sundgaard taught drama at several universities, including Columbia University, Bennington College, and the University of Texas. In 1951, he received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship for his research in music.

A Career in Theater and Writing

Arnold Sundgaard began his career working with the Federal Theatre Project. This project helped artists during the Great Depression. In 1938, they produced his play Spirochete: A History. This play was part of a series called "Living Newspapers," which presented important topics in a play format. Spirochete was very popular in Chicago but faced protests when it moved to Philadelphia.

Sundgaard wrote his first Broadway play, Everywhere I Roam, with another writer named Marc Connelly. It was shown in 1938 and 1939. He also wrote The First Crocus (1942) and The Great Campaign (1947). In 1967, his play Of Love Remembered was directed by famous actor Burgess Meredith.

Sundgaard wrote the words for many operas and musicals. These words are called a "libretto." He worked with well-known composers like Alec Wilder, Douglas Moore, and Kurt Weill. With Douglas Moore, he wrote the opera Giants in the Earth. This opera won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951, which is a very important award for music. In 1948, he worked with Kurt Weill on a folk opera called Down in the Valley.

Besides writing for the stage, Sundgaard also wrote articles for popular magazines like The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. He also wrote books for children. Some of his children's books include The Lamb and the Butterfly (1988) and The Bear who Loved Puccini (1992).

Personal Life

Arnold Sundgaard had many friends, including famous people like Studs Terkel and Gregory Peck. He passed away at his home in Dallas, Texas, in 2006, just before his 97th birthday. He was survived by a son and two daughters.

Images for kids

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  Poster for the original production of Spirochete, a play by Arnold Sundgaard produced by the Federal Theatre Project (1938)

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  Norman Lloyd, Katherine Emery and Dean Jagger in the Broadway production of Everywhere I Roam (1938)

See Also

• List of American playwrights