Mart Crowley
| Mart Crowley | |
|---|---|
 Mart Crowley on the set of The Men from the Boys | |
| Born |
August 21, 1935 Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Occupation | Playwright, writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Information | |
| Genre | Drama, comedy |
| Notable work(s) | The Boys In The Band |
Mart Crowley (born August 21, 1935) is an American playwright.[1]
Biography
Crowley was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After graduating from The Catholic University of America (Studying in acting and show business) in Washington, D.C. in 1957, Crowley headed west to Hollywood, where he worked for a number of television production companies before meeting Natalie Wood on the set of her film Splendor in the Grass.[2] Wood hired him as her assistant, primarily to give him ample free time to work on his gay-themed play The Boys in the Band,[3][4] which opened off-Broadway on April 14, 1968 and enjoyed a run of 1001 performances. Crowley became part of Wood's inner circle of friends that she called "the nucleus", whose main requirement was that they pass a "kindness" test.
The Boys in the Band was adapted into a film in 1970 directed by William Friedkin.[5]
Crowley's sequel to The Boys in the Band was entitled The Men from the Boys.[6]
Crowley wrote and produced other works: Remote Asylum, the autobiographical A Breeze from the Gulf, and The Men From the Boys, his sequel to The Boys in the Band.
In 1979 and 1980, Crowley served first as the executive script editor and then producer of the ABC series Hart to Hart, starring Wood's husband Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. Other credits include the teleplays for There Must Be a Pony (1986), Bluegrass (1988), People Like Us (1990), and a Hart to Hart reunion special in 1996.
Crowley has appeared in at least three documentaries: The Celluloid Closet (1995), about homosexuality and its depiction on screen throughout the years, Dominick Dunne: After the Party (2007), a biography of Crowley's friend and producer, Dominick Dunne, and Making the Boys (2011), a documentary about the making of The Boys in the Band.
References
- ↑ Talbot, Mary. "How One Man's 'Band' Changed Theater on Revival's Eve: Theater Folk Recall That Mart Crowley and his 'Boys' Put Gays in Spotlight." New York Daily News 19 June 1996. Web. 25 May 2012.
- ↑ Wagner, Robert J. Pieces of My Heart. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. 138. Google Books. Web. 25 May 2012.
- ↑ Dunlap, David W. THEATER: In a Revival, Echoes of a Gay War of Words." The New York Daily News 9 June 1996. Web. 25 May 2012.
- ↑ Journey to an Overlooked Past - The New York Times - June 11, 2000
- ↑ Canby, Vincent. "The Boys in the Band (1970)." The New York Times 18 March 1970. Web. 25 May 2012 .
- ↑ Roca 2002, p. 1.
- ↑ Roca, Octavia. "'Boys' to 'Men': Mart Crowley's latest play takes 'Boys in the Band' through the past 30 years." San Francisco Chronicle 26 October 2002. Web. 25 May 2012.
- ↑ Kinser, Jeffrey. "Mart Crowley on His Friend Natalie Wood." The Advocate 23 November 2011. Web. 25 May 2012 .
Further reading
Archival Sources
- Charles Boultenhouse and Parker Tyler Papers, 1927-1994 (35 boxes) are housed at the New York Public Library. Includes correspondence with Mart Crowley from 1969 to 1972.
- Lucille Lortel Papers, 1902-2000 (49.61 linear feet; 37 vols.) are housed in the New York Public Library. Includes correspondence with Mart Crowley from 1996.
External links
- Mart Crowley at the Internet Movie Database
- Mart Crowley at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Matt Crowley at The New York Times