Wikipedia

John Lahr

John Henry Lahr(born July 12, 1941) is an American theater critic and writer.[1]From 1992 to 2013, he was a staff writer and the senior drama critic atThe New Yorker.[2]He has written more than twenty books related to theater.[2]Lahr has been called "one of the greatest biographers writing today".[3]

John Henry Lahr
BornJohn Henry Lahr
(1941-07-12)July 12, 1941(age 83)
Los Angeles, California,US
OccupationTheater critic, writer, biographer
EducationWorcester College, Oxford
Yale University
Spouse
Anthea Mander
​
​
(m.1965, divorced)​
​
(m.2000)​
Children1
ParentsBert Lahr(father)
Mildred Schroeder (mother)
RelativesJane Lahr(sister)
Website
johnlahr.com

Early life

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Lahr was born inLos Angeles, California,to a Jewish family.[4][1]He is the son of Mildred "Millie" Schroeder, aZiegfeld girl,andBert Lahr,an actor and comedian most famous for portraying theCowardly LioninThe Wizard of Oz.[2][5][6]When his father left movies for the stage, the family moved from their home inColdwater CanyontoManhattan.[7]

Until his father was on the cover ofTimemagazine when Lahr was in grade school, he did not know what he did for a living.[8]Lahr wrote:

On stage, Dad was sensational; in private he was sensationally taciturn: a brooding absent presence, to be encountered mostly in his bedroom chair at his desk, turned away from us, with his blue Sulka bathrobe knotted under his pot belly. The Bert Lahr my sister and I call "Dad" is the ravishing performer, not the indifferent parent. We loved him; we just couldn't reach him. The public got his best self—inspired, full of prowess—the family got the rest. At home, Dad was depressed, bewildered, hidden; in front of the paying customers, however, he was buoyant and truthful—a bellowing, cavorting genius who could reduce audiences to a level of glee so intense that from the wings I once saw a man stuff a handkerchief in his mouth to stop laughing.[8]

However, Lahr did spend a lot of time with his father at theaters playing with props and costumes.[9]His childhood was also filled with access to Hollywood and Vaudeville celebrities who were his father's friends, such asEddie Foy Jr.,Buster Keaton,Groucho Marx,andEthel Merman.[8]

Lahr received a B.A. fromYale University.[10]While there, he was a member of the literary fraternity ofSt. Anthony Halland was an editor of theYale Daily News.[11]He also has a master's degree fromWorcester College, Oxford University.[10][7]

Career

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Theater

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Lahr started his career managing theaters.[9]In 1968, he was a literary adviser to theGuthrie TheatreinMinneapolis, Minnesota.[2]He was an advisor to theVivian Beaumont TheatreinManhattan, New Yorkfrom 1969 to 1971.[2]He also was a literary consultant for the Lincoln Center's Repertory Theater in the 1970s.[11][6]

He has adapted several books for the stage; these plays were performed at theRoyal National TheatreinLondon,theMark Taper ForuminLos Angeles,theRoyal ExchangeinManchester,and in theWest Endof London.[12]

In 2002, he co-wroteElaine Stritch's one-woman showElaine Stritch at Liberty.[1]He and Stritch won aTony Awardand theDrama Desk Awardfor Outstanding Book of a Musical for the show.[1][9][13][14]However, Lahr sued Strich, claiming she "cheated him of profits" from the play.[15]

Critic and writer

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Lahr became a contributing editor toEvergreen Reviewin 1967.[11]At the same time, he was a freelance theater critic forThe Village Voiceand as a general theater editor for Grove Press.[11][12][6]He has also written forBritish Vogue,BroadwayWorld,theDaily Mail,Esquire,The Guardian,The Nation,The New Indian Express,The New Republic,The New York Times,The Paris Review,Slate,andThe Telegraph.[16][2]

In 1992, when he was fifty years old, Lahr became a staff writer and a senior drama critic atThe New Yorkermagazine.[2][8]He wrote profiles, reviews, and behind-the-scenes portraits. He also began reviewing regional and international theater, expanding the magazine's coverage beyond Broadway for the first time.[2]His profiles are biographies consisting of 8,000 to 10,000 words.[8]Each article takes him three to four months to write and research.[17]Throughout his time atThe New Yorker,Lahr profiled more than forty actors, includingWoody Allen,Roseanne Barr,Ingmar Bergman,Cate Blanchett,Judi Dench,Bob Hope,Eddie Izzard,Tony Kushner,David Mamet,Arthur Miller,Helen Mirren,Mira Nair,Mike Nichols,andAl Pacino.[8][18][5][7]One unique aspect of a profile by him is that "Lahr typically receives more access to his subjects than they've ever allowed before. Just as he wants to write about them, they want to be written about in his magazine."[18]For example,Sean Penngave his mother's telephone number to Lahr.[18]

In 2000, his compilation book,Show and Tell: New Yorker Profiles,included a profile of his mother who was aZiegfeld Folliesgirl.[7]Lahr's most recent book,Joy Ride: Show People and Their Showsin the US (2015), is a collection of hisNew Yorkerprofiles on playwrights and directors, as well as some of his reviews of their work.[19]

In 2015, Lahr admitted he got death threats for not liking a musical byStephen Sondheim.[20]

He retired fromThe New Yorkerin 2013.[2][17]His 21-year stint is the longest in the magazine's history.[17]He is currently a chief theater critic emeritus ofThe New Yorkerand writes two profiles a year.[18][17]

Film

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In 1987, Lahr co-producedPrick Up Your Ears,a film version of his 1978 book about a British playwright,Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton.[2][21]Lahr was portrayed in the film byWallace Shawn.[18][21]

Lahr has also written movie scripts, including the short filmSticky My Fingers...Fleet My Feetwhich was nominated for a1971 Academy Awardfor Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects.[2][22][11]

Author

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When Lahr was 21 years old, he decided to connect to his father by writing a biography.[8]Eight years later, he finished the biography calledNotes on a Cowardly Lion,the week before his father died.[17]Since then, he has written many other books, including the novelsandbiographiesof theatrical figures.[2]His biographies include the Australian comedianBarry Humphries,Joe Orton,andFrank Sinatra.[11]

In 1994, Lahr published an expose inThe New Yorkerdetailing the behavior of LadyMaria St. Just,the literary executor of playwrightTennessee Williams's estate.[23][21][6]Lahr's profile helpedLyle LeverichpublishTom: The Unknown Tennessee Williamsafter "a five-year legal stranglehold" by St. Just.[21][6]In 2000, Leverich died while working on a planned second volume about Williams, and named Lahr as his successor in this project; Lahr agreed to complete the book, covering Williams from 1945 to his death in 1983.[24][3]

Lahr's stand-alone biography,Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh,was published in 2014.[3][6]In the United States, the biography won theNational Book Critics Circle Award,theAmerican Academy of Arts and LettersVursell Award, and theLambda Literary Awardfor the best gay biography.[25][26][27]In theUnited Kingdom,it won the 2015Sheridan Morley Prizefor Theatre Biography.[28]

Awards

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Personal life

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In July 1965, Lahr became engaged to Anthea Mander ofWightwick ManorinWolverhamptonwhom he met while they both were attending Oxford University.[33][34]She was the daughter of theLiberalpolitician, art patron and industrialist SirGeoffrey Mander.[33]They married on August 12, 1965, atSt. Peter's ChurchinEaton Square,London.[33]They also had a second wedding inNew York Cityfor Lahr's parents, who were unable to travel to England.[33]After they married, they lived in New York City.[33]They had a son named Christopher.[17][7]

Lahr moved to London in 1973.[17]While he was still working forThe New Yorker,he divided his time between the two cities, spending two weeks inNew York Citya month, returning home to London for the rest of the month.[18][10]Rather than maintaining a residence in New York, he rented the maid's room of producerMargo Lion's apartment.[18]

In 1988, Lahr began a relationship with New York-born ex-pat actressConnie Booth,co-writer and a cast member ofFawlty Towersand ex-wife ofJohn Cleese.[35][7]Lahr and Booth lived together for fifteen years before marrying 2000.[35]They live in Highgate in north London.[35]

Lahr contributed toJohn Kerry's presidential campaign andDemocraticorganizations.[36]His sister is the editor and writerJane Lahr.[37]

Bibliography

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Books

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Biographies and profiles

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  • Notes on a Cowardly Lion(Knopf, 1970)ISBN978-0713901672
  • The Business of Rainbows: The Life and Lyrics of E.Y. Harburg(Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1978)ISBN9781585674237
  • Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton(Lane, 1978)ISBN978-0713910445
  • Coward the Playwright(University of California Press, 1983)ISBN978-0520234147
  • Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilization: Backstage with Barry Humphries(Bloomsbury, 1991)ISBN978-0747510215
  • Sinatra: The Artist and the Man(Random House, 1997)ISBN978-0375501449
  • Show and Tell: New Yorker Profiles(Overlook Press, 2000)ISBN978-1585670628
  • Honky Tonk Parade: New Yorker Profiles of Show People(Overlook Press, 2005)ISBN978-1585677030
  • Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh(W. W. Norton & Company, 2014)ISBN978-0393021240
  • Joy Ride: Show People and Their Shows(W. W. Norton & Company, 2015)ISBN978-0393246407
  • Arthur Miller: American Witness(Yale University Press, 2022)ISBN9780300234923

Collected criticism

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Fiction

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As editor

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Plays and film adaptations

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  • Sticky My Fingers...Fleet My Feet(1969)[5][22]
  • Diary of a Somebody(Limelight Editions, 1989)ISBN978-0879101244
  • The Manchurian Candidate(Dramatist Play Service, 1993)ISBN978-0822213390
  • Accidental Death of an Anarchist[10]
  • The Bluebird of Unhappiness: A Woody Allen Revue[10]
  • Keys to the Kingdom(2019)[32]
  • Elaine Strich at Liberty(2002)[10][1]

Essays and reporting

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  • Lahr, John. (January 1969) "In Search of a New Mythology",Evergreen Review,No. 62.[11]
  • — (Summer 1969) "Jules Feiffer: Interviewed by John Lahr.:The Transatlantic Review,32:38–47.[a]
  • — (November 24, 2008). "Land of Lost Souls". The Critics. Life and Letters.The New Yorker.84(38): 114–120.
  • — (April 5, 2010)."Telling it like it is: 'The Glass Menagerie' re-imagined".The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.86(8):82–83.
  • — (November 15, 2010). "Angels on the Verge". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.86(36). Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  • — (March 14, 2011). "Losers Take All". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.87(4): 62–64.
  • — (April 4, 2011). "God Squad". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.87(7): 76–77. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  • — (November 7, 2011). "The Natural". Backstage Chronicles.The New Yorker.87(35): 31–37. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  • — (January 30, 2012). "Boldfaced Bard". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.87(46): 68–70.
  • — (February 13–20, 2012). "A Talent to Abuse". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.88(1): 118–119.
  • — (November 19, 2012). "Supersize". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.88(36): 94–95. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  • — (November 26, 2012). "Unhappy Families". The Critics. The Theatre.The New Yorker.88(37): 84–85.
  • — (February 25, 2013). "Songs of Angry Men".The Talk of the Town. Credit Due Dept.The New Yorker.89(2): 26–27.
  • — (March 31, 2014). "Joy ride: Susan Stroman puts 'Bullets over Broadway' on Broadway". Profiles.The New Yorker.90(6): 50–59.
  • — (July 21, 2014) "A Last Lunch with Mike Nichols".Culture Desk.The New Yorker.
  • — (September 15, 2014) "Caught in the Act: What Drives Al Pacino"Profiles.The New Yorker.90(27): 58[b]
  • — (November 24, 2014) "Poster Boy"The Boards.The New Yorker.
  • — (September 21, 2015) "Julianne Moore, Beauty and the Beast".The New Yorker
  • — (October 24, 2016) "The Dynamism of Janet McTeer."The New Yorker.
  • — (December 19–26, 2016). "Act of Grace: Viola Davis Aims to Alter How African-Americans Are Seen".Profiles.The New Yorker.92(42): 52–64.
  • — (July 31, 2017) "Postscript: Sam Shepard Who Brought Rage and Rebellion Onstage".The New Yorker.
  • — (July 19, 2018) "Squealing to Survive",London Review of Books,40 (14): 33–35.
  • — (September 8, 2014) "When He Acted it was Like Jazz".Daily Telegraph(London).[c]
  • — (September 24, 2018) "Sam Mendes's Directional Discoveries".Profiles.The New Yorker.
  • — (November 19, 2019) "Todd Haynes Rewrites the Hollywood Playbook".Profiles.The New Yorker.
  • — (September 21, 2020)."The shape-shifter: the protean career of Ethan Hawke".Profiles.The New Yorker.96(28):44–51.[d]

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Notes
  1. ^Lahr, John (1969). Jules Feiffer: Interviewed by John Lahr.The Transatlantic Review,32,38–47, accessed May 21, 2022
  2. ^John, Lahr. 2014. "Caught In The Act".The New Yorker,September 15. Via EBSCO. Accessed May 21, 2022
  3. ^John Lahr. When he acted it was like jazz.Daily Telegraph(London). September 2014:8,9. Accessed May 22, 2022. via EBSCO, accessed May 21, 2022.
  4. ^Online version is titled "The many faces of Ethan Hawke".

References

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  1. ^abcdef"John Lahr".IBDB: Internet Broadway Database.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  2. ^abcdefghijkl"Contributors: John Lahr".The New Yorker.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  3. ^abcLarman, Alexander (October 5, 2014)."Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh Review".The Guardian.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  4. ^"Stephen Frears & John Lahr".Independent on Sunday[London, England], September 6, 2015, p. 42.Gale General OneFile,Accessed May 18, 2022.
  5. ^abcdeNew York State Writer's Institute (Summer 2002)."Writers Online Magazine Volume 6, Number 2".www.albany.edu.RetrievedMay 19,2022.
  6. ^abcdefgDiamond, Robert."New Yorker's John Lahr to End Run as Critic; Begin Profiles".Broadway World.RetrievedMay 22,2022.
  7. ^abcdefCampbell, Duncan (August 26, 2001). "Following Yonder Stars".The Observer (London, England).p. 80 – viaNewspapers.com.
  8. ^abcdefg"The Depressed Lion, Bert Lahr. His son, writer John Lahr: 'We loved Dad, we just couldn't reach him'".The Life & Times of Hollywood.November 27, 2018.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  9. ^abc"Bright lights; John Lahr on the theatre".The Economist,vol. 416, no. 8955, September 12, 2015, p. 80.Gale General OneFile,Accessed May 18, 2022.
  10. ^abcdef"John Lahr".New York State Writer's Institute.2002.RetrievedMay 19,2022.
  11. ^abcdefghijkl"George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism | Literatures in English".Cornell University.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  12. ^abc"John Lahr | Penguin Random House".PenguinRandomhouse.com.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  13. ^ab"2002 Tony Award: Special Theatrical Event, Elaine Stritch at Liberty".Playbill.June 2, 2002.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  14. ^ab"Drama Desk Awards Announced; Goat, Metamorphoses Tie for Best Play, Millie Scores".Playbill.May 20, 2002.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  15. ^Perlow, Jonathan (June 25, 2009)."John Lahr Takes Elaine Stritch to Court".www.courthousenews.com.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  16. ^"John Lahr".muckrack.com.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  17. ^abcdefgPorter, William (September 25, 2015)."Writer John Lahr, Son of a Beloved Actor, Took His Own Theatrical Road".The Denver Post.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  18. ^abcdefgTracer, Jake (September 1, 2007)."The Man in the Middle".The New York Review of Magazines. Archived fromthe originalon September 1, 2007.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  19. ^"Nonfiction Book Review: Joy Ride: Show People and Their Shows by John Lahr".Publishers Weekly.September 1, 2015.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  20. ^Dickson, Andrew (September 2, 2015)."John Lahr: 'I got death threats for not liking a Sondheim musical'".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.RetrievedJuly 26,2024.
  21. ^abcdTaylor, Paul (September 21, 2014)."John Lahr on his Dazzling Biography of Tennessee Williams".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on June 13, 2022.RetrievedOctober 29,2014.
  22. ^ab"Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet (1970)".The Cave of Forgotten Films.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  23. ^Lahr, John (July 28, 2014)."The Lady and Tennessee".The New Yorker.
  24. ^Kondazian, Karen."Spirit and Substance",Back Stage West, February 22, 2001. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
  25. ^ab"Previous Winners".Lambda Literary.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  26. ^ab"The National Book Critics Circle Award 2014".National Book Critics.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  27. ^ab"2015 Literature Award Winners – American Academy of Arts and Letters".artsandletters.org.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  28. ^abShenton, Mark (March 19, 2015)."John Lahr Wins London's Eighth Annual Sheridan Morley Prize for Tennessee Williams Biography".Playbill.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  29. ^"Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh".National Book Foundation.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  30. ^"31st Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Award Recipients".ASCAP Foundation.1998.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  31. ^"15th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Award Recipients".ASCAP Foundation.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  32. ^ab"Keys to the Kingdom - The National Arts Club".www.nationalartsclub.org.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  33. ^abcde"Miss Anthea Mander Engaged".The Birmingham Press (Birmingham, England).July 27, 1965. p. 15.RetrievedMay 21,2022– viaNewspapers.com.
  34. ^"Marriage in London".Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut).August 13, 1965. p. 5.RetrievedMay 21,2022– viaNewspapers.com.
  35. ^abc"Life after Polly: Connie Booth (a case of Fawlty memory syndrome)".The Independent.May 2, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon May 2, 2008.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
  36. ^Dedman, Bill (July 15, 2007)."The list: Journalists who wrote political checks".NBC News.RetrievedOctober 24,2010.
  37. ^Gross, Ed (June 2, 2020)."'The Wizard of Oz' Star Bert Lahr Remembered by His Daughter ".Closer Weekly.RetrievedMay 21,2022.
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