Wendy Wasserstein facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wendy Wasserstein
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| Born | October 18, 1950 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 30, 2006 (aged 55) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Mount Holyoke College (BA) City University of New York, City College (MA) Yale University (MFA) |
| Period | 1977–2006 |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1989) Tony Award for Best Play (1989) |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Bruce Wasserstein (brother) |
Wendy Wasserstein (born October 18, 1950 – died January 30, 2006) was a famous American playwright. A playwright writes plays for the theater. She taught at Cornell University as a special professor. In 1989, she won two big awards for her play The Heidi Chronicles: the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Contents
About Wendy Wasserstein
Her Early Life and Education
Wendy Wasserstein was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a Jewish family. Her father, Morris Wasserstein, was a successful business owner in the textile industry. Her mother, Lola, came to the United States from Poland. Wendy was the youngest of five children. Her brother, Bruce Wasserstein, became a well-known investment banker.
Wendy's mother, Lola, was a very interesting person. Wendy once said her mother was like "Auntie Mame", a fun and lively character. Lola Wasserstein even inspired some of the characters in Wendy's plays.
Wendy went to the Calhoun School from 1963 to 1967. She then studied history at Mount Holyoke College, earning her bachelor's degree in 1971. Later, she earned a master's degree in creative writing from City College of New York in 1973. She finished her education at the Yale School of Drama in 1976, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Her Career as a Playwright
Wendy Wasserstein's first important play was Uncommon Women and Others. She wrote this play while she was a student at Yale School of Drama. It was about her experiences as a student and graduate of Mount Holyoke College. The play was first shown in 1977 and later made into a TV show for PBS. Famous actresses like Meryl Streep and Glenn Close starred in it.
In 1989, Wendy won many major awards for her play The Heidi Chronicles. These included the Tony Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. These awards are very important in the theater world.
Wendy's plays often explored topics like feminism, family, and pop culture. She wrote about women's lives and their challenges. Some of her other well-known plays include The Sisters Rosensweig, An American Daughter, and Third. Her last play, Third, opened in 2005.
Over her career, which lasted almost 30 years, Wendy wrote eleven plays. She won many awards for her writing, including a Tony Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and several critics' awards.
Besides plays, Wendy also wrote the screenplay for the 1998 movie The Object of My Affection. This movie starred Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd.
Wendy's characters were often smart and successful women who also had doubts about themselves. They looked for love but didn't always find it. Wendy said her plays were "a political act." She used funny conversations and situations to show deeper truths about independent women living in a world with traditional ideas about women's roles.
Wendy also wrote the stories for two musicals. One was called Miami, and the other was Pamela's First Musical, which was based on her own children's book. She also started writing an opera called Best Friends, but it was not finished before she passed away.
In 1996, she even appeared as a guest voice on the TV show Frasier in the episode "Head Game".
Her Personal Life and Passing
In 1999, when Wendy was 48 years old, she gave birth to a daughter. Her baby was born three months early. Wendy wrote about this experience in her book of essays, Shiksa Goddess. Wendy was not married and kept her daughter's father's identity private.
Wendy Wasserstein became sick with lymphoma, a type of cancer, in December 2005. She passed away on January 30, 2006, at the age of 55. Her illness was not widely known, so her death was a surprise to many. The night after she died, the lights on Broadway were dimmed to honor her memory.
Awards and Honors
- 1983: John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1989: Pulitzer Prize for Drama – for The Heidi Chronicles
- 1989: Tony Award for Best Play – for The Heidi Chronicles
- 1989: Outer Critics Circle Award – for The Heidi Chronicles
- 1989: Drama Desk Award – for The Heidi Chronicles
- 1989: Susan Smith Blackburn Prize – for The Heidi Chronicles
- 1993: Outer Critics Circle Award – for The Sisters Rosensweig
- 1993: William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in American Theatre
- 2006: American Theater Hall of Fame
See also
In Spanish: Wendy Wasserstein para niños
