Lawrence Lipton (October 10, 1898 – July 9, 1975) was a Polish-born Jewish American journalist, writer, and

Beat poet The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatione ...

, as well as the father of

James Lipton Louis James Lipton (September 19, 1926 – March 2, 2020) was an American writer, lyricist, actor, and Dean (education), dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He was the executive producer, writer, ...

Early life

Lipton was born in

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, Poland, the son of Rose and Abraham Lipschitz. He immigrated to the United States in 1903 and settled in

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Career

Lipton began his career as a graphic artist and won an award for his illustration of a version of the ''

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'', the

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'' and working for a movie theater as a publicity director. During the 1920s, he associated with Chicago writers Edgar Lee Masters, Sherwood Anderson, Harriet Monroe, Ben Hecht, and Carl Sandburg. Lipton later wrote for ''Atlantic Monthly'', ''The Quarterly Review of Literature'', and the ''

Chicago Review ''Chicago Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1946 and published quarterly in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. The magazine features contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, often publishing works in translation and ...

''. His other novels include ''Brother, The Laugh Is Bitter'' and ''In Secret Battle'', as well as a poetry book, ''

Rainbow at Midnight "Rainbow at Midnight" is a song written by Lost John Miller. The song originally made the Juke Box Folk chart when it was recorded by The Carlisle Brothers in 1946. "Rainbow at Midnight reached number five on the Juke Box Folk chart. Cover ver ...

''. His book ''The Holy Barbarians'' (1959) linked Lipton to

the Beats The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generation ...

. He appeared in ''

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'' (1960) as "King of the Beatniks". In the episode "Swan Song" on the show ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...

'', Rory is showing Jess her copy of ''The Holy Barbarians'' by Lipton, and says that he is "the father of the guy that does those Actors Studio interviews on TV", to which Jess responds "It’s weird that a beatniky guy would have a conservative son like that." ''The Holy Barbarians'' was also used as a band name for Holy Barbarians, a short-lived

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band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England, active from 1995 to 1997.

Personal life

Lipton's first wife was Dorothy Omansky. He next married Betty Weinberg, a teacher; their son was ''

Inside the Actors Studio ''Inside the Actors Studio'' is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered in 1994 on Bravo where it aired for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel Cente ...

'' host

. He was later married to author Craig Rice and Nettie Esther Brooks (from 1948 to 1975). Lipton died in Los Angeles at the age of 76.

References

External links

Lawrence Lipton Papers InventoryAmerican Ethnography Quasimonthly , Excerpt from ''The Holy Barbarians''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipton, Lawrence 1898 births 1975 deaths Journalists from Chicago 20th-century American journalists Polish emigrants to the United States American male journalists American people of Polish-Jewish descent American male poets Jewish American poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American poets Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American Jews