Jon Jory is a theatrical director instrumental in the development of Actors Theatre of Louisville; he is also widely rumored to be the writer behind the pseudonym

Jane Martin Jane Martin is the pen name of a playwright who has been active from 1981 to the present, whose real identity remains unknown. Martin's plays include ''Anton in Show Business'', ''Back Story'', ''Beauty'', ''Coup/Clucks'', '' Cementville'', ''Cr ...

Childhood

Jory is a child of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

character actors as his father

Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...

played Jonas Wilkerson, the scheming overseer in the 1939 film ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

''. Jory received his

Actor's Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

card as a young child.

Work

He was at the forefront of the regional theater movement of the 1960s, which began with the opening of the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

in 1963, showing that not all theater talent was centralized in New York City and Los Angeles. Jory served as artistic director of the

Long Wharf Theatre Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared. Fou ...

from 1965 to 1966; his contract was terminated once the fledgling theater hit rough financial waters. In 1969, he took over the helm of Actors Theatre of

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, a small regional theater just five years old. Under his leadership, it became one of the top theaters in the country. Jory's major accomplishment was the foundation and cultivation of the annual Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, beginning in 1976. It has since produced a number of outstanding plays including ''

The Gin Game ''The Gin Game'' is a two-person, two-act play by Donald L. Coburn that premiered at American Theater Arts in Hollywood in September 1976, directed by Kip Niven. It was Coburn's first play, and the theater's first production. The play won the 197 ...

'' (1978), ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the p ...

'' (1981), '' Cementville'' (1991) and ''

Dinner with Friends ''Dinner with Friends'' is a play written by Donald Margulies. It premiered at the 1998 Humana Festival of New American Plays and opened Off-Broadway in 1999. The play received the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Plot Gabe and Karen, a happily m ...

'' (1998), not to mention almost everything

has ever written. In 2017, Jory began teaching at the UCLA Department of Theater as a Visiting Professor.

Retirement and honours

Jory retired from Actors Theatre in 2000. That fall, he joined the faculty at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

School of Drama as Professor of Acting and Directing. Also, in 2000, Jory was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He is the President's Chair of the Performing Arts Department at

Santa Fe University of Art and Design Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD) was a private, for-profit art school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The university was built from the non-profit College of Santa Fe (CSF), a Catholic facility founded as St. Michael's College in 1859, and ...

. He holds honorary doctorates from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, and

Bellarmine University Bellarmine University (BU; ) is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after Saint Rober ...

. Asked if Jane Martin's identity will be revealed after her death, Jory has stated with a laugh, "That's a press conference no one will come to. By the time I die, no one will care anyway."

Publications

*
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Men
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Actor's Choice: Scenes for Teens
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Anne of Green Gables
' Playscripts, Inc. *
The Bear
' Brooklyn Publishers *
Captain Hook and the Warrior Amazons
' Heuer Publishing *
Captain Hook's Very Bad Christmas
' Heuer Publishing *
The Circus of the Seven Deadly Sins
' Brooklyn Publishers *
Darcy and Elizabeth
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Detective Father Brown
' Heuer Publishing *
The Drama School From Hell
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Emma
' Playscripts, Inc. *
The Explosive Fairy Tale Princess Diaries
' Brooklyn Publishers *
Friday Night Live!
' Brooklyn Publishers *
The Gift of the Magi
' Brooklyn Publishers *
The Gift of the Magi
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Goddess Gap Year
' Brooklyn Publishers *
The Great Cases of Sherlock Holmes
' Heuer Publishing *
The Haunted House Farce
' Heuer Publishing *
Mean Girls in Fairyland
' Brooklyn Publishers *
Orpheus and What's-Her-Name
' Brooklyn Publishers *
Passing Periods at Pomegranate Prep
' Pioneer Drama Service, 2018 *
Pride and Prejudice
' Playscripts, Inc. *
The Prom Game
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Salvador Dali at the Beach
' Playscripts, Inc. *
The Secret Lives of Superheroes, Vol. 1
' Heuer Publishing *
The Secret Lives of Superheroes, Vol. 2
' Heuer Publishing *
Sense and Sensibility
' Playscripts, Inc. *
Sherlock Holmes' Hat
' Heuer Publishing *
Sherlock in Love
' Pioneer Drama Service, 2019 *
Sixty Second Singles
' Playscripts, Inc. *
The Whatsit
' Pioneer Drama Service, 2017 *
Wilbur Peppy's Burger Quest
' Heuer Publishing * ''20/20 : twenty one-act plays from twenty years of the Humana Festival / edited by Michele Volansky and Michael Bigelow Dixon; foreword by Jon Jory.''

Smith and Kraus Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people w ...

Lyme, NH Lyme is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,745 as of the 2020 census. Lyme is home to the Chaffee Natural Conservation Area. The Dartmouth Skiway is in the eastern part of to ...

* ''Tips. ideas for actors'' Smith & Kraus Pub Inc, 2000, * ''Tips. ideas for directors'' Smith & Kraus Pub Inc, 2002, * ''Tips II. more ideas for actors'' Smith & Kraus Pub Inc, 2004, * ''Pride and Prejudice: A Romantic Comedy'' Playscripts Inc, 2006 * ''University: a full evening of theatre in ten parts''

Dramatic Publishing Dramatic may refer to: * Drama, a literary form involving parts for actors * Dramatic, a voice type classification in European classical music, describing a specific vocal weight and range at the lower end of a given voice part * Dramatic soprano, ...

, 1983 * ''Love, Death and the Prom'' Dramatic Publishing, 1991,

References

External links

Biographical article on ''The Playwrights Database''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jory, Jon American theatre directors University of Washington faculty Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Arts in Louisville, Kentucky Artists from Louisville, Kentucky Living people College of Santa Fe faculty