John Pielmeier (born February 23, 1949) is an American playwright and screenwriter.

Life and career

Pielmeier was born in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...

, the son of Louise (Blackburn) and Len Pielmeier. He was raised Catholic. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from the Catholic University of America in 1970 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1978. He began his career as an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, working with such repertory companies as Actors Theater of Louisville and the Guthrie Theater. In 1976, Pielmeier's first play, ''A Chosen Room'', was produced in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Three years later, '' Agnes of God'' was performed in a staged reading at the O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference in

Waterford, Connecticut Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,571 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 3,07 ...

and won the 1979 Great American Play Contest. A full production was mounted for the

Humana Festival of New American Plays Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this festival showcases new theatrica ...

at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1980, and the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production opened in March 1982 at the

Music Box Theatre The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, the Music Box Theatre was designed by C. Howard Crane in a Palladian-inspir ...

, where it ran for 599 performances. His screenplay for the 1985 screen adaptation earned him a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Pielmeier has written extensively for the stage, but his later work never achieved the success he experienced with ''Agnes of God''. On Broadway, ''The Boys of Winter'' (1985) and ''Sleight of Hand'' (1987) both ran for 31 previews and 9 performances, and ''Voices in the Dark'' (1999)''Voices in the Dark'' at IBDb
/ref> ran for 12 previews and 64 performances. For the latter work, Pielmeier won the Edgar from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Awa ...

for Best Mystery Play. Other plays include ''Courage'', a one-man show about

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

that was filmed by

Kentucky Educational Television Kentucky Educational Television (KET) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is operated by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, an agency of the Kentucky state governm ...

; ''Young Rube'', a musical based on the early years of cartoonist/inventor Rube Goldberg; ''Willi'', a one-man show based on the speeches of mountaineer

Willi Unsoeld William Francis Unsoeld (October 5, 1926 – March 4, 1979) was an American mountaineer who was a member of the first American expedition to summit Mount Everest. The American Mount Everest Expedition was led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, and included ...

, a member of the first American expedition to reach the summit of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

; and ''The Exorcist'', a play based on the novel of the same name by

William Peter Blatty William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel, ''The Exorcist'', and for his 1974 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won ...

. In 1983, Pielmeier penned the

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' Choices of the Heart'', about murdered American missionaries in El Salvador, for which he received the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

, the

Humanitas Award The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

, a Writers Guild of America nomination, and an honorary

Doctorate of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from St. Edward's University in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Additional television credits include '' The Shell Seekers'' (1989), ''

The Stranger Within ''The Stranger Within'' is a 1974 American Television film, made-for-television science fiction horror film that premiered as the ''ABC Movie of the Week'' on October 1, 1974. Written by Richard Matheson, and based on his 1953 novelette ''Trespas ...

'' (1990), '' An Inconvenient Woman'' (1991), '' Through the Eyes of a Killer'' (1992), ''The Last P.O.W.? The Bobby Garwood Story'' (1992), ''

Flowers for Algernon ''Flowers for Algernon'' is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, later expanded by him into a novel and subsequently adapted for film and other media. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of '' ...

'' (2000), '' Sins of the Father'' (2002), '' Hitler: The Rise of Evil'' (2003), '' Sybil'' (2007), ''

The Capture of the Green River Killer ''The Capture of the Green River Killer'' is a 2008 television miniseries that first aired on Lifetime Movie Network and tells the story of the Green River killer serial murders between 1982 and 1998. The miniseries was named one of the top 10 te ...

'' (2008), ''

The Memory Keeper's Daughter ''The Memory Keeper's Daughter'' is a novel by American author Kim Edwards that tells the story of a man who gives away his newborn daughter, who has Down syndrome, to one of the nurses. Published by Viking Press in June 2005, the novel garnere ...

'' (2008), ''

The Pillars of the Earth ''The Pillars of the Earth'' is a historical novel by British author Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. Set in the 12th century, the novel covers the time between the ...

'' (2010), and '' World Without End'' (2012). Pielmeier has been married to poet/author Irene O'Garden since October 1982. The couple lives in

Garrison, New York Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Garrison Metro-North Railroad st ...

Publication

*''Voices In The Dark'', Broadway Play Publishing Inc. *

References

External links

* *
John Pielmeier at Broadway Play Publishing Inc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pielmeier, John 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male screenwriters Catholic University of America alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni 1949 births Living people American mystery writers American male stage actors People from Altoona, Pennsylvania American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Pennsylvania Screenwriters from Pennsylvania