William Aubert Luce (October 16, 1931 – December 9, 2019) was an American writer, primarily for the stage and television.Barnes, Mik
"William Luce, 'Belle of Amherst' and 'Barrymore' Playwright, Dies at 88"
''The Hollywood Reporter'' December 9, 2019 He wrote several plays which starred Julie Harris, and specialized in one-person plays.

Early life and education

Luce was born on October 16, 1931, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, to Chauncey Darrel Luce and Eleanor Marie (Kuul) Luce.Mayor, Da
"Belle of Amherst and Barrymore Playwright William Luce Dies at 88"
'Playbill'' December 10, 2019 He majored in piano at college.Ouzounian, Richar
"Solos are William Luce's specialty"
''The Star'' (Toronto), December 17, 2010

Career

Awards and nominations

A member of the

Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Mem ...

, Writers Guild of America, and Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, Luce received multiple awards and nominations for his work.

Awards

* 1979

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

: Masterpiece Radio Theatre, ''Currer Bell, Esquire. Act 1''. * 1979

Edwin Howard Armstrong award The Major Armstrong award, named after the inventor of FM radio, Edwin Howard Armstrong, is presented "to AM and FM stations for excellence and originality in radio broadcasting" by the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation at Columbia Univers ...

: ''Currer Bell, Esquire. Act 1'' (later ''Bronte'') (WGBH production) * 1979 Ohio State award: ''Currer Bell, Esquire. Act 1'' (later ''Bronte'') (WGBH production) * 1987 International Emmy Award: ''

The Belle of Amherst ''The Belle of Amherst'' is a one-woman play by William Luce. Based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson from 1830 to 1886, and set in her Amherst, Massachusetts home, the 1976 play makes use of her work, diaries, and letters to recollect her en ...

'' (Thames Television in London)

Nominations

* Writers Guild Award nominee: ''The Last Days of Patton'' (CBS television movie) * Writers Guild Award nominee: ''The Woman He Loved'' (CBS television movie)

Works

Stage

"Playwright William Luce picks his leading characters carefully, because they're usually the only ones in his shows." Luce wrote the one-person play, ''

'', which premiered on Broadway in 1976, starring Julie Harris as Emily Dickinson, among others, and directed by Charles Nelson Reilly. After opening on April 28, 1976 at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was desi ...

, it ran for 116 performances. Subsequently, Harris toured around the country performing the play in multiple regional theatres. His play about Charlotte Brontë, ''Bronte'', starring Julie Harris and directed by Charles Nelson Reilly, was initially filmed in 1982 in Ireland, after several stage performances, and televised on Public Television in 1985. Harris subsequently performed the play in regional US theatre. His play ''Zelda'', about Zelda Fitzgerald, premiered

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 ...

in 1984 and starred Olga Bellin. Luce turned this play into ''The Last Flapper'', which was performed in regional U.S. theatres initially in 1987 by Piper Laurie, once again directed by Charles Nelson Reilly. He wrote the play, ''Lillian'', about Lillian Hellman which ran on Broadway in 1986 and starred

Zoe Caldwell Zoe Ada Caldwell, (14 September 1933 – 16 February 2020) was an Australian actress. She was a four-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), and Best Actress in a Play for '' The Pri ...

. His play, ''Lucifer's Child'', based on the writings of

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countrie ...

(aka Isak Dinesen), appeared on Broadway in 1991 and starred Julie Harris. He wrote the play '' Barrymore'', which premiered on Broadway in 1997 and starred Christopher Plummer as

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

Opera

Luce wrote the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

for the opera ''Gabriel's Daughter'', with music by

Henry Mollicone Henry Mollicone (March 20, 1946 – May 12, 2022) was an American composer and musical instructor. He died on May 12, 2022, following a lengthy illness. At the time of his death, his home was in Saratoga, California. ''The Washington Post'' calle ...

which premiered in 2003 at the Central City Opera House, Colorado.

Television

'' was adapted by Luce for an IBM Television Special, starring Julie Harris and directed by

Charles S. Dubin Charles Samuel Dubin (February 1, 1919 – September 5, 2011) was an American film and television director. From the early 1950s to 1991, Dubin worked in television, directing episodes of ''Tales of Tomorrow'', '' Omnibus'', '' The Defenders'', ...

. The TV movie received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress and two Christopher Awards. The record album of the play received a Grammy Award.

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

(London) aired a production of the play starring Claire Bloom and directed by Adrian Brown, which received an International Emmy Award in 1987. Luce wrote the screenplays for three television movies, telecast on CBS. '' The Last Days of Patton'' (1986) starred George C. Scott and Eva Marie Saint; ''The Woman He Loved'' (1988) starred

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

Anthony Andrews Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an ...

, and Julie Harris with direction by Charles Jarrott; and '' Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter'' (1991) starred Frances Fisher as

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

and Maurice Benard as Desi Arnaz, also directed by Charles Jarrott.

Literary executor

Luce's literary executor is author Grant Hayter-Menzies of Sidney, British Columbia, Canada.

Personal life and death

Luce was with his longtime partner, Ray Lewis, for 50 years. Lewis was a designer of furniture and created an award-winning line the Fauna Collection, hand sculpted chairs in wood with animal motifs and then cast in metal. In the early 1950s, Luce and Lewis moved from Oregon to settle in Southern California and Mariposa before returning to Oregon to live on the Pacific Coast in

Depoe Bay Depoe Bay is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, located on U.S. Route 101 on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 1,398 at the 2010 census. The bay of the same name is a harbor that the city promotes as the world's smallest naviga ...

from 1991 to 2001 when Lewis died at age 83.Obituary''News Times'' (Newport, Oregon) newportnewstimes.com, June 22, 2011 Luce remained in their home until 2015 when he moved to Arizona, where he died from Alzheimer's disease in Green Valley on December 9, 2019, at the age of 88. He is buried there in the Green Valley Cemetery (Sahuarita, Arizona).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luce, William 2019 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Writers from Portland, Oregon 1931 births American opera librettists 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights American television writers American male television writers American male screenwriters Screenwriters from Oregon American gay writers American LGBT dramatists and playwrights LGBT people from Oregon 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers