Jerome Lawrence

Jerome Lawrence
Born	(1915-07-14)July 14, 1915 Cleveland, Ohio,U.S.
Died	February 29, 2004(2004-02-29)(aged 88) Malibu, California,U.S.
Occupation	Playwright,Screenwriter
Notable works	Auntie Mame,Inherit the Wind

Jerome Lawrence(bornJerome Lawrence Schwartz;July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an Americanplaywrightand author. After graduating from theOhio State Universityin 1937 and theUniversity of California, Los Angelesin 1939, Lawrence partnered withRobert Edwin Leeto help createArmed Forces Radiowhile serving together in theU.S. ArmyduringWorld War II.The two built a partnership over their lifetimes, and continued to collaborate on screenplays and musicals until Lee's death in 1994.

Lawrence and Lee won acclaim for the 1955 playInherit the Wind,based on theScopes trial.Lawrence describes their plays as "shar[ing] the theme of the dignity of every individual mind, and that mind's life-long battle against limitation and censorship". The two deliberately avoidedBroadwaylater in their careers and formed the American Playwrights Theater in 1963 to help promote their plays. After Lee's death, Lawrence continued to write plays in hisMalibu, California,home. He died in Malibu on February 29, 2004, from complications of astroke.

Life and career

Jerome Lawrence Schwartz was born inCleveland, Ohio,on July 14, 1915. Lawrence's father, Samuel Schwartz, operated a printing press, while his mother Sarah (née Rogen) wrote poetry and did volunteer work.After he graduated fromGlenville High Schoolin 1933, Lawrence attended the Ohio State University, where he graduated with abachelor's degreein 1937.While a student at Ohio State, Lawrence was initiated into the Nu chapter of theZeta Beta Taufraternity, a historicallyJewishsocial fraternity.Two years later, he completed graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Lawrence worked for several small newspapers as a reporter/editor before moving into radio as a writer forCBS.In 1941, Lawrence co-created withAleen Lesliethe radio seriesA Date with Judy,which was based on Leslie's “One Girl Chorus” column in the Pittsburgh Press. Lawrence left the show in 1943.

With his writing partner,Robert E. Lee,Lawrence worked forArmed Forces Radiowhile serving together in theU.S. ArmyduringWorld War II.Lawrence and Lee became the most prolific writing partnership in radio, with such long-running series asFavorite Story,among others.

Lawrence and Lee turned to the live theatre in 1955 withInherit the Wind,which remains among the most-produced plays in the American theatre. They also collaborated on the playsAuntie Mame,The Incomparable Max,andFirst Monday in October,among others. In 1965, they founded the American Playwrights' Theatre, a plan to bypass the commerciality of the Broadway stage, which foreshadowed the professional regional theatre movement. Their wildly successful play,The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail,was produced through the American Playwrights Theatre, and premiered at Lawrence's alma mater, Ohio State, which also commissioned their play on the life and times ofJames Thurber,Jabberwock(1972).

In all, they collaborated on 39 works, including a 1956 musical adaptation ofJames Hilton'sLost Horizon,entitledShangri-La,with the author himself. They also adaptedAuntie Mameinto the hit musicalMamewith composerJerry Herman,which won aTony Awardfor its star,Angela Lansbury.Less successful was the Lawrence and Lee collaboration with Herman, also starring Lansbury,Dear World,a musical adaptation of Giraudoux'sThe Madwoman of Chaillot.They also co-wrote a script for a made-for-televisionPride and Prejudicefilm, which was never produced.

Several of Lawrence and Lee's plays draw on events from United States history to speak to contemporary issues.Inherit the Wind(1955) addressedintellectual freedomandMcCarthyismthrough a fictionalized version of the Scopes Monkey Trial.The Gang's All Here(1959) examined government corruption in the 1920s.The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail(1970) was aVietnam-era exploration ofThoreau's resistance to an earlier war.

Lawrence taught playwriting in theMaster of Professional Writing Programat theUniversity of Southern California.Lawrence's oneTony Awardnomination was for Best Book of a Musical forMame.

He died due to complications from astrokeinMalibu, California.

The Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, a research facility and archive, was dedicated in Lawrence and Lee's honor at the Ohio State University in 1986.

His niece is flutistPaula Robison.

Further reading

• Sisario, Ben (2004-03-02),"Jerome Lawrence, 88, Author Of Stage Hit 'Inherit the Wind' [obituary]",New York Times,retrieved2010-01-04
• Woods, Alan (1995),Selected Plays of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee,Ohio State University Press
• Vallance, Tom (2004-04-19),"Jerome Lawrence: Playwright co-author of 'Mame' and other hits [obituary]",The Independent,retrieved2010-01-04

External links

• Jerome Lawrenceat theInternet Broadway Database
• Jerome LawrenceatIMDb
• Jerome LawrenceatAllMovie
• Jerome Lawrenceat theTCM Movie Database
• Lawrence and Lee papers, 1917-1974,held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• Guide to the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Collection, circa 1800-1803, 1831-2003 SPEC.TRI.L&Lheld by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, The Ohio State University Libraries.