Lanford Wilson facts for kids

Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937 – March 24, 2011) was a famous American playwright. He wrote many plays that were known for being very real and well-liked. People performed his plays all over the country.

Wilson was a key figure in the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. This was a new kind of theater that was smaller and more experimental than traditional Broadway shows. His first plays were shown at a place called the Caffe Cino starting in 1964. He was one of the first writers to move from Off-Off-Broadway to bigger stages, including Broadway.

He won the important Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980. He was also chosen for the Theater Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2004, he joined the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He also received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist. Wilson was nominated for three Tony Awards and won several other awards, like a Drama Desk Award and five Obie Awards.

His short play The Madness of Lady Bright in 1964 was a big success. It led to more plays throughout the 1960s. These plays explored different social and romantic ideas. In 1969, he helped start the Circle Repertory Company with director Marshall W. Mason. He wrote many plays for this company in the 1970s. His 1973 play The Hot l Baltimore was a huge hit for the company. It was loved by both audiences and critics. This play ran for over 1,000 performances Off-Broadway.

His play Fifth of July was first shown at Circle Repertory in 1978. He received a Tony Award nomination when it opened on Broadway in 1980. A play that came before Fifth of July was called Talley's Folly. It opened in 1979 and won Wilson the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Burn This (1987) was another successful play on Broadway. Wilson also wrote the words for several operas.

Early Life and Learning

Lanford Wilson was born in Lebanon, Missouri. His parents were Ralph Eugene and Violetta Tate Wilson. When he was five, his parents divorced. He moved with his mother to Springfield, Missouri. They lived there until she got married again. When he was 11, his mother married Walt E. Lenhard, a farmer. They moved to live with him in Ozark, Missouri. Lanford had two half-brothers, John and Jim, and one stepsister, Judy.

He went to high school in Ozark. There, he fell in love with movies and art. As a child, Wilson enjoyed writing short stories. He also loved watching plays at Southwest Missouri State College. One play, Brigadoon, really impressed him. He said that after seeing that play, movies just weren't as exciting. He became interested in acting. He performed in his high school plays, including the role of Tom in The Glass Menagerie.

After finishing Ozark High School in 1955, Wilson started college. In 1956, he moved to San Diego, California. His father had moved there after the divorce. Wilson studied art and art history at San Diego State College. He also worked at an aircraft factory. Later, Wilson wrote a play called Lemon Sky based on his relationship with his father. Wilson left college in 1957 and moved to Chicago. He worked as a graphic artist for an advertising company. During this time, he realized his short stories would be better as plays. He began to study playwriting at the University of Chicago.

Starting His Career (1962-1968)

In 1962, Wilson moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. He worked many different odd jobs to support himself. These jobs included being a typist and a hotel clerk. One co-worker mistakenly called him "Lance," and his friends started calling him that too. Eventually, Wilson worked for the New York Shakespeare Festival.

Wilson first discovered the Caffe Cino when he saw a play there. He felt that theater could be both exciting and funny at the same time. After the show, Wilson met Joe Cino, who helped start the Caffe Cino. Cino was a leader in the Off-Off-Broadway movement. He encouraged Wilson to submit a play. Cino became a mentor to Wilson, helping him improve and stage his plays.

Wilson's first play at Cino was So Long at the Fair in 1963. Other plays he wrote for Caffe Cino include Ludlow Fair, Home Free!, and The Madness of Lady Bright. He kept working odd jobs during these early years. The Madness of Lady Bright opened in May 1964. This play is about a character named "Lady" Bright. It explores feelings of loneliness and being alone. It was a big success for Off-Off-Broadway theater. It ran for over 200 performances, setting a record at Caffe Cino.

In 1965, Wilson started writing plays for Ellen Stewart's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. This theater was in the East Village. His first full-length plays were shown at La MaMa. One was Balm in Gilead, which showed a difficult relationship in a city diner. This play was later brought back to the stage in 1984. Also in 1965, Wilson wrote and directed Miss Williams for a special show at La MaMa.

Wilson's plays Home Free! and No Trespassing were part of La MaMa's first European tour in 1965. His play This is the Rill Speaking was also on a European tour in 1966. Other plays by Wilson were shown with works by famous playwrights like Sam Shepard. Besides writing, Wilson also designed sets for other playwrights' shows at La MaMa.

His play The Sand Castle was first shown at La MaMa in 1965. Wilson also took part in the first National Playwrights Conference in 1965. This was at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Other famous writers like Edward Albee were there too. His 1966 play The Rimers of Eldritch was about small-town life in the Midwest. It won an award for its contribution to Off-Broadway theater. Wilson himself directed a new version of this play in 1981.

The Rimers of Eldritch was followed by The Gingham Dog (1968). This play was about a couple breaking up. He went back to the O'Neill Theater Center to work on Lemon Sky in 1968. Wilson said Lemon Sky was directly about his own life. The play's narrator, Alan, tries to connect with his father. But they don't meet each other's hopes, and Alan leaves feeling disappointed.

Circle Repertory Company and Later Plays (1969-2011)

A scene from the 1986 New York revival of Home Free!

In 1969, Lanford Wilson helped start the Circle Repertory Company. He founded it with Marshall W. Mason, Tanya Berezin, and Rob Thirkield. Many of Wilson's plays were first shown at Circle Repertory. Most of them were directed by Mason. Also in 1969, Wilson was asked to turn Tennessee Williams' short story One Arm into a movie script.

His first plays at Circle Repertory were The Great Nebula in Orion, Ikke, Ikke, Nye, Nye, Nye, and The Family Continues. They all premiered in 1972. The Hot l Baltimore opened in 1973. This play was about people living in a run-down hotel that was going to be torn down. It became Circle Repertory's first big commercial success. The play won awards and ran for 1,166 performances. The Hot l Baltimore was even made into a short-lived TV series in 1975.

In 1974, Wilson acted in a Circle Repertory play called Him. In 1975, Wilson's The Mound Builders premiered. This play was about an archaeological dig that didn't go well. It explored the idea that human achievements might not last forever. Circle Repertory then produced Wilson's Serenading Louie in 1976. Wilson had rewritten this play for the Circle Repertory production.

Wilson explored different kinds of relationships in his plays. This theme appears in The Madness of Lady Bright, Lemon Sky, Fifth of July, and Burn This. In Fifth of July, a Broadway hit from 1980 to 1982, a family decides whether to sell their old farmhouse in Missouri. The story focuses on Ken Talley, a veteran, and his partner Jed, who live in the house. Wilson was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play for Fifth of July.

After Fifth of July, Wilson wrote Talley's Folly (1979). This play has only two characters. It shows Sally Talley and Matt Friedman falling in love. They get engaged even though Sally's family doesn't approve. Talley & Son premiered in 1981. It was later rewritten and renamed in 1985. Both Talley's Folly and Talley & Son are stories that happen 30 years before Fifth of July. Talley's Folly won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980. It also received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Play.

Angels Fall opened on Broadway in 1983. It earned Wilson his third nomination for the Tony Award for Best Play. The New York Times newspaper said that Wilson was one of the few artists who could truly make America "sing" through his plays. In Burn This, two friends, Anna and Larry, deal with the death of their roommates. Anna learns to be more independent and confident. She starts a new relationship and pursues her interest in choreography.

Besides writing plays, Wilson also wrote the words for several operas. He worked with composer Lee Hoiby on Summer and Smoke (1971). This opera was based on a play by Tennessee Williams. Wilson also adapted his own play, This is the Rill Speaking, into a short opera in 1992. In 1984, Wilson created a new translation of Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. He wanted his translation to sound like everyday speech. Reviews praised how natural Wilson's dialogue sounded.

He also became involved with the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. Some of his new short plays were produced there. This included the 1996 premiere of his comedy Virgil Is Still the Frogboy. This play was directed by Marshall W. Mason.

Personal Life and Passing

Lanford Wilson lived in an apartment in Greenwich Village, New York City, for many years after moving there in 1962. In the 1970s, he bought a house in Sag Harbor, Long Island. He divided his time between both places. He mostly stayed in Manhattan when one of his plays was being produced there. When in Manhattan, he worked with the Playwrights Laboratory at the Circle Repertory Company. He often attended readings, rehearsals, and shows.

Around 1998, Wilson moved to live full-time in Sag Harbor.

Lanford Wilson passed away on March 24, 2011, at the age of 73. He died from problems related to pneumonia.

Awards and Recognition

In 1995, Lanford Wilson received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.

In 2004, he received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award. This award recognized him as a Master American Dramatist. Also in 2004, he was chosen to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 2009, he shared stories about his friendship with playwright Tennessee Williams at a theater festival.

In 2010, actress Debra Monk presented Wilson with the Artistic Achievement Award. This award came from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. It honored him for his brave and unique plays. These plays helped build the Off-Off-Broadway community. They also made independent theater an important part of the American stage.

Ben Brantley, a theater critic for The New York Times, said that Wilson's plays often showed a feeling of disappointment with the country. Some of his plays featured veterans from the Vietnam War. At the same time, his plays also reminded people of older, more emotional stories about people on the edges of society. Wilson and Marshall W. Mason encouraged a style of acting called method acting. This style uses Constantin Stanislavski's techniques. Many famous actors starred in Wilson and Mason's productions. These included John Malkovich, Judd Hirsch, Swoosie Kurtz, William Hurt, Jeff Daniels, David Morse, and Christopher Reeve.

Selected Plays

Images for kids

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  A scene from the 1986 New York revival of Home Free!