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Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (November 1, 1930 – June 13, 2017) (sometimes credited as Pete Gurney) was an American playwright,
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
and academic. He is known for works including '' The Dining Room'' (1982), '' Sweet Sue'' (1986/7), and '' The Cocktail Hour'' (1988), and for his Pulitzer Prize nominated play ''
Love Letters A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...
''. His series of plays about upper-class
WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...
life in contemporary America have been called "penetratingly witty studies of the WASP ascendancy in retreat."


Early life

Gurney was born on November 1, 1930 in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
to Albert Ramsdell Gurney Sr. (1896–1977), who was president of Gurney, Becker and Bourne, an insurance and real estate company in Buffalo, and Marion Spaulding (1908-2001). His parents had three children, of which Gurney was the middle: (1) Evelyn Gurney Miller (b. 1929), (2) Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (b. 1930), and (3) Stephen S. Gurney (b. 1933). His maternal grandparents were Elbridge G. Spaulding (1881–1974) and Marion Caryl Ely (1887–1971). Ely was the daughter of
William Caryl Ely William Caryl Ely (February 25, 1856 – December 14, 1921) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Early life and education W. Caryl Ely was born on February 25, 1856, in Middlefield, Otsego County, New York, the son of Assemblym ...
(1856–1921), politician and lawyer, Member of the New York State Assembly in 1883. Gurney's 2x great-grandfather was Elbridge G. Spaulding (1809–1897), a former Mayor of Buffalo, NY State Treasurer, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives who supported the idea for the first U.S. currency not backed by gold or silver, thus credited with helping to keep the Union economy afloat during the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.Mr. Spaulding and Greenback Resumption (1875, October 16). In ''The Commercial and Financial Chronicle'' (Vol. XXI, p. 358). New York, NY: William B. Dana.
/ref> Gurney attended the private school
Nichols School Nichols School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational college- preparatory day school in Buffalo, New York, United States. The average enrollment is 570 students with an average Upper School grade/class size of 98 students. The average ...
in Buffalo and graduating from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He attended
Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...
, graduating in 1952, and the
Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
, graduating in 1958, after which he began teaching
Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
.


Career

In 1959, following graduation from Yale, Gurney taught English and Latin at a day school, Belmont Hill School, in Belmont, Massachusetts for one year. He then joined
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
as a professor of humanities (1960–96) and professor of literature (1970–96). He began writing plays such as '' Children'' and ''
The Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
'' while at MIT, but it was his great success with '' The Dining Room'' that allowed him to write full-time. After ''The Dining Room'', Gurney wrote a number of plays, most of them concerning
WASPs A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...
of the American northeast. While at Yale, Gurney also wrote ''Love in Buffalo'', the first musical ever produced at the Yale School of Drama. Since then, he is known to be a prolific writer, always writing something. His first play in New York, which ran for just one performance in October 1968, ''The David Show'', premiered at the Players' Theater on
MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Betw ...
. The play was cut after its first show by sneers from the entire press except for two enthusiasts, Edith Oliver in ''
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'' and another from the ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
''. His 2015 play, ''Love and Money'', is about a mature woman making plans to dispose of her fortune, and the twists that ensue. The world premiere was at New York's Signature Theatre in August 2015. Before that, ''The Grand Manner'', a play about his real life encounter with famed actress Katharine Cornell in her production of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's '' Antony and Cleopatra'', was produced and performed by
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
for the summer of 2010. It was also produced in Buffalo by the Kavinoky Theatre. He appeared in several of his plays including ''The Dining Room'' and most notably ''Love Letters''.


Personal life

In June, 1957, Gurney married Molly Goodyear They lived in Boston until 1983, when they moved their family to New York to be near the theater, television, and publishers while he was on sabbatical from MIT. Together, they had four children: * George Goodyear Gurney, who married Constance "Connie" Lyman Warren in 1985. * Amy Ramsdell Gurney, who married Frederick Snow Nicholas III in 1985. * Evelyn "Evie" R. Gurney, who married Christopher Bumcrot * Benjamin Gurney Gurney's father, Albert Ramsdell Gurney Sr., died in 1977 and Molly's mother, Sarah Norton, died in 1978. After their deaths, his mother, Marion, married Molly's father, George, and remained married until Marion's death in 2001, followed by George's death in 2002.


Death

Gurney died at his home in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, on June 13, 2017, at the age of 86.


Awards and honors

In 2006, Gurney was elected a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
. In 2007, Gurney received the
PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award The PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award, commonly referred to as the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center). It annually recognizes two American playwrights. A medal is given ...
as a master American dramatist. Gurney was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016
Obie Awards The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
presented by the
American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...
and
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
.


Literary work


Themes

Gurney's plays often explore the theme of declining upper-class "WASP" (
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant In the United States, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or WASPs are an ethnoreligious group who are the white, upper-class, American Protestant historical elite, typically of British descent. WASPs dominated American society, culture, and polit ...
) life in contemporary America. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' has called his works "penetratingly witty studies of the WASP ascendancy in retreat." Several of his works are loosely based on his patrician upbringing, including ''The Cocktail Hour'' and ''Indian Blood''. ''The New York Times'' drama critic Frank Rich, in his review of ''The Dining Room'', wrote, "As a chronicler of contemporary America's most unfashionable social stratum — upper-middle-class WASPs, this playwright has no current theatrical peer." In his 1988 play, "The Cocktail Hour", the lead character tells her playwright son that theater critics "don't like us.... They resent us. They think we're all Republicans, all superficial and all alcoholics. Only the latter is true."For the quotes see Terry Teachout
"Anatomy of a WASP," ''The Wall Street Journal'' Jan 8, 2016
/ref> ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' described the play as witty observations about a nearly extinct patrician class that regards psychiatry as an affront to good manners, underpaid hired help as a birthright. In a 1989 interview with ''The New York Times'', Gurney said, "Just as it's mentioned in ''The Cocktail Hour'',' my great-grandfather hung up his clothes one day and walked into the Niagara River and no one understood why." Gurney added that "he was a distinguished man in Buffalo. My father could never mention it, and it affected the family well into the fourth generation as a dark and unexplainable gesture. It made my father and his father desperate to be accepted, to be conventional, and comfortable. It made them commit themselves to an ostensibly easy bourgeois world. They saw it so precariously, but the reason was never mentioned. I first learned about it after my father died." Gurney told ''The Washington Post'' in 1982: :WASPs do have a culture — traditions, idiosyncrasies, quirks, particular signals and totems we pass on to one another. But the WASP culture, or at least that aspect of the culture I talk about, is enough in the past so that we can now look at it with some objectivity, smile at it, and even appreciate some of its values. There was a closeness of family, a commitment to duty, to stoic responsibility, which I think we have to say weren't entirely bad."


Plays

* ''Ancestral Voices'' * '' Another Antigone'' ()Hartigan K. ''Greek Tragedy Transformed: AJ Gurney and Charles Mee Rewrite Greek Drama''. in Foster VA. ''Dramatic Revisions of Myths, Fairy Tales and Legends: Essays on Recent Plays.''. McFarland, 2012 * ''Big Bill'' * ''Black Tie'' () * ''Buffalo Gal'' * ''A Cheever Evening'' (based on stories by John Cheever; ) * '' Children'' () * '' The Cocktail Hour'' () * ''The Comeback'' () * '' Crazy Mary'' * ''Darlene'' * ''The David Show'' * '' The Dining Room'' () * ''Family Furniture'' * ''
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...
'' * '' The Fourth Wall'' () * ''The Golden Age'' () * ''The Golden Fleece'' * ''The Grand Manner'' () * ''The Guest Lecturer'' * ''Heresy'' * ''Human Events'' * '' Indian Blood'' * ''Labor Day'' () * ''Later Life'' () * ''The Love Course'' () * ''
Love Letters A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...
'' () * ''The Middle Ages'' () * ''Mrs. Farnsworth'' * ''Office Hours'' () * ''O Jerusalem'' * ''The Old Boy'' () * ''The Old One-Two'' () * ''The Open Meeting'' * ''Overtime'' () * ''The Perfect Party'' () * ''
Post Mortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough Physical examination, examination of a Cadaver, corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner o ...
'' * '' The Problem'' * ''The Rape of Bunny Stuntz'' () * ''Richard Cory'' () * ''Scenes from American Life'' * ''Screen Play'' * "Squash" * ''The Snow Ball'' (based on his novel; ) * '' Sweet Sue'' () * '' Sylvia'' () * ''The Wayside Motor Inn'' () * '' What I Did Last Summer'' () * ''Who Killed Richard Cory?'' ()


Novels

Gurney has also written several novels, including: *''The Snow Ball'' (1984) *''The Gospel According to Joe'' (1974) *''Entertaining Strangers'' (1977) *''Early American'' (1996)


Screenplays

*''The House of Mirth'' (1972) *''Sylvia'' (1995)


References


External links


A. R. Gurney
at
The Literary Encyclopedia ''The Literary Encyclopedia'' is an online reference work first published in October 2000. It was founded as an innovative project designed to bring the benefits of information technology to what at the time was still a largely conservative li ...
* * A. R. Gurney Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, A. R. 1930 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American opera librettists Goodyear family (New York) MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Writers from Buffalo, New York St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni Williams College alumni Novelists from Connecticut Yale University alumni Yale School of Drama alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts