Terrence McNally facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Terrence McNally
McNally in 2020
Born	(1938-11-03)November 3, 1938 St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
Died	March 24, 2020(2020-03-24) (aged 81) Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Playwright, librettist
Alma mater	Columbia University (B.A, English, 1960)
Period	1964–2020
Spouse	Tom Kirdahy ​ (m. 2003)​

Terrence McNally (born November 3, 1938 – died March 24, 2020) was a famous American writer for plays, musicals, and movies. People called him one of the best playwrights of his time.

McNally won five Tony Awards, which are like the Oscars for theater. He won for Best Play with Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class. He also won for Best Musical Book (the story part of a musical) for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime. In 2019, he received a special Tony Award for his amazing work over his lifetime. He was also honored by the American Theater Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

His career lasted for sixty years. His plays, musicals, and operas were performed all over the world. He also wrote for movies and TV. McNally was known for writing about how important it is for people to connect with each other. He passed away on March 24, 2020, due to problems from COVID-19.

Early Life and Education

Terrence McNally was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, on November 3, 1938. His parents, Hubert and Dorothy, were from New York. They ran a bar and grill by the sea. After a hurricane destroyed their business, his family moved a few times before settling in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Even though they lived far from New York City, McNally's parents loved Broadway musicals. When he was eight, they took him to see Annie Get Your Gun. He also saw The King and I. These shows made him want to live in New York. In high school, his English teacher, Maurine McElroy, encouraged him to write.

In 1956, he started college at Columbia College. He especially enjoyed a class about Shakespeare. He also wrote for Columbia's yearly student show. He graduated in 1960 with a degree in English. In 1961, famous novelist John Steinbeck hired McNally to teach his two sons while they traveled the world. During this trip, McNally started writing his first play.

A Career in Theater

Starting Out in New York

After college, McNally moved to Mexico to focus on writing. He wrote a short play and sent it to the Actors Studio in New York City. They liked his writing and invited him to work as a stage manager. This helped him learn more about how theater works.

His first full-length play, This Side of the Door, was performed in 1962. It was about a sensitive boy and his strict father. His early plays often talked about social issues of the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1964, his play And Things That Go Bump in the Night opened on Broadway. It explored different kinds of relationships, which was new for the time. Some critics didn't like it, and McNally said it was a "big flop." But the producer lowered ticket prices, and the show sold out for three weeks.

Comedy and Farce

McNally then started writing more comedies. His play Next (1968) was very popular. It was about a middle-aged businessman who is mistakenly drafted into the army. Other plays from this time include:

• Botticelli (1968), about soldiers playing a game with famous names.
• ¡Cuba Si! (1968), which made fun of how some Americans felt about revolutions.
• Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? (1971), about the youth movement.

He also wrote Bad Habits (1971), which made fun of people's reliance on therapy. It won an Obie Award. The Ritz (1975) was a funny play about a straight man who accidentally ends up in a gay bathhouse. McNally later turned The Ritz into a movie in 1976.

Success and Important Themes

After a play called Broadway, Broadway didn't do well, McNally returned to New York. The spread of AIDS deeply affected his writing. He became very successful with plays like Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, which was also made into a movie starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer.

In 1990, McNally won an Emmy Award for Andre's Mother, a TV drama about a mother dealing with her son's death from AIDS. A year later, his play Lips Together, Teeth Apart showed two couples afraid to use a pool because its owner had died of AIDS.

McNally also wrote many successful musicals:

• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992): This musical, based on a book, explored the complex friendship between two men in a Latin American prison. It won McNally his first Tony Award for Best Musical Book.
• Ragtime (1997): Based on a novel, this musical told the story of a black musician seeking justice and featured historical figures like Harry Houdini. It won McNally his third Tony Award.

His other famous plays from this time include:

• Love! Valour! Compassion! (1994): This play looked at the relationships of eight men. It won McNally his second Tony Award.
• Master Class (1995): This play was a study of the famous opera singer Maria Callas. It won the Tony Award for Best Play, McNally's fourth.

His play Corpus Christi (1997) caused protests because it showed Jesus and his followers in a new way. The theater company almost canceled it due to threats, but other playwrights supported McNally, and it was performed.

Later Works

In 2000, McNally worked on the musical The Full Monty, which was nominated for 12 Tony Awards. He also wrote several operas, including Dead Man Walking (2000), which became one of the most successful American operas.

In 2010, the Kennedy Center presented three of McNally's plays about opera. He also worked for 15 years on the musical The Visit, which finally opened on Broadway in 2015 and was nominated for five Tony Awards.

Other later works include:

• A Man of No Importance (2002)
• Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (2005)
• Deuce (2007), starring Angela Lansbury.
• And Away We Go (2013), which covered important moments in theater history.
• Mothers and Sons (2014), which explored family relationships and was nominated for two Tony Awards.
• Fire and Air (2018), about the famous Russian ballet company, the Ballets Russes.

In 2019, a new production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune opened on Broadway. That same year, McNally received a special Tony Award for his lifetime of achievements in theater.

Personal Life

McNally in 2009

In his early years in New York City, McNally had important relationships that influenced his life and work. He was in a long-term relationship with actor and director Robert Drivas. They remained close friends even after they broke up, until Drivas passed away.

McNally married Tom Kirdahy, a Broadway producer, in a civil union ceremony in Vermont in 2003. They later officially married in Washington, D.C. in 2010. In 2015, they renewed their vows in New York City to celebrate the Supreme Court's decision to allow same-sex marriage across the United States.

When he received his Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2019, McNally seemed out of breath. He passed away on March 24, 2020, at age 81, from problems related to COVID-19. He had also battled lung cancer years before and lived with a lung condition called COPD.

Thoughts on Theater

McNally believed that theater's most important job was to bring people together. He felt it could help bridge differences between people, no matter their religion, race, or gender.

He once said that theater helps us understand "who we are, what our society is, where we are going." He believed plays couldn't solve society's problems on their own, but they could "provide a forum for the ideas and feelings that can lead a society to decide to heal and change itself."

His Collected Works

McNally gave his papers and writings to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. This collection includes all his major works for the stage, movies, and TV. It also has letters, photos, awards, and recordings.

Documentary Film

A documentary about McNally's life and career, called Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life, was shown on PBS in 2019. The film included new interviews with McNally and conversations with his friends and people he worked with, like Christine Baranski, Nathan Lane, and Angela Lansbury. Critics said the film showed that McNally was one of the most important playwrights of the last 50 years.

Selected Writing Credits

Awards and Nominations

Tony Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Other Awards

• 1966, 1969 Guggenheim Fellowship
• 1974 Obie Award Winner, Distinguished Play – Bad Habits
• 1992 Lucille Lortel Award Winner, Outstanding Play – Lips Together, Teeth Apart
• 1992 Lucille Lortel Award Winner, Outstanding Body of Work
• 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Nomination – A Perfect Ganesh
• 1995 Obie Award Winner, Playwriting Award – Love! Valour! Compassion!
• 1996 inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
• In 1998, McNally received an honorary degree from the Juilliard School.
• In 2011 he received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
• In 2013 he was the main speaker for the Columbia College class of 2013.
• In 2016, he was honored by the Lotos Club.
• In 2018, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
• 2019 an honorary doctorate from New York University.

Images for kids

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  McNally in 2013

See also

In Spanish: Terrence McNally para niños