Jack Carter Richardson (February 18, 1934
– July 1, 2012) was an American writer born in Manhattan, and his birthplace erroneously has been reported as Bristol, Virginia.
He was known for his existentialist dramas of the early 1960s.
Biography
Raised in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, New York City, the son of Arthur Richardson, a piano player during
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
who co-wrote "Too Fat Polka (She's Too Fat for Me)".
After his mother died and his father remarried, he was raised by his grandmother.
He graduated from Collegiate High School in Manhattan.
Richardson later served in the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) in the United States Army during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. He then earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Columbia University and studied at the University of Munich. In 1960, ''The Prodigal'', his first play, a retelling of the story of
Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and ...
, was produced
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
to critical acclaim, winning an
Obie Award
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 ...
and a
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...
. ''Gallows Humor'', a 1961 combination of two short plays, was well-received. Producer, William T. Gardner, staged its production at the Academy Playhouse in Lake Forest, Illinois in the late summer of 1973. Richardson's next two plays, ''Lorenzo'' (1963) and ''Xmas in Las Vegas'' (1965), were produced on Broadway, but were critical and commercial failures.
["Richardson, Jack (1935-)", The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, vol. 2, p. 1138 (2007) (retrieved from Google Books).](_blank)
/ref>
From the 1960s, Richardson wrote dramatic criticism and essays for ''The New York Times'', ''New York Review of Books'', ''Esquire'', and ''Commentary'', as well as two novels, ''The Prison Life of Harris Filmore'' (1965) and ''Memoir of a Gambler'' (1980).
Personal life
Richardson married author Anne Roth (now Anne Roiphe
Anne Roiphe (born December 25, 1935) is an American writer and journalist. She is best known as a first-generation feminist and author of the novel ''Up the Sandbox'' (1970), filmed as a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand in 1972. In 1996, ' ...
) in 1957, and they had a daughter Emily Carter
Emily Carter (born December 1960 in New York City) is an American writer. Her work has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''Story'', ''Gathering of the Tribes'', '' Between C & D'', ''Artforum'', ''Open City'', ''Great River Review'', and '' Poz ...
. The couple later divorced. Richardson's second wife was Judith Heidler (later Judith Silvia); they also divorced. She became executive director of the Newport Art Association and Museum and later a consultant to Green Collections in Yokohama, Japan. Richardson then married Susan E. Morse, an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated feature film editor best known, for her work with Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
.Susan E. Morse
/ref> and, in 2012, for her editing of the popular FX Network show, "Louie," written and directed by and starring Louis C.K., for which Morse was nominated for an Emmy. Richardson and Morse had a son named Dwight, and the marriage lasted until Richardson's death in Manhattan in July 2012.
References
External links
*
Jack Richardson
at Internet Off-Broadway Database
The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway.
The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundation ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Jack
1934 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Obie Award recipients
Writers from Queens, New York
People from Jackson Heights, Queens