Terrence McNally

This article is about the playwright. For the actor, see Terrence E. McNally.

Terrence McNally
McNally in 2020
McNally in 2020
Born(1938-11-03)November 3, 1938
St. Petersburg, Florida
DiedMarch 24, 2020(2020-03-24) (aged 81)
Sarasota, Florida
OccupationPlaywright, librettist
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Period1964–2020
Spouse
​
(m. 2003)​

Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater"[1] and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced,"[2] McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards.[3] He won the Tony Award for Best Play for Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime,[4][5] and received the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.[6][7] He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1996, and he also received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the highest recognition of artistic merit in the United States. His other accolades included an Emmy Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, four Drama Desk Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, two Obie Awards, and three Hull-Warriner Awards.[8]

His career spanned six decades, and his plays, musicals, and operas were routinely performed all over the world.[9] He also wrote screenplays, teleplays, and a memoir.[10][11] Active in the regional and off-Broadway theatre movements as well as on Broadway, he was one of the few playwrights of his generation to have successfully passed from the avant-garde to mainstream acclaim.[12] His work centered on the difficulties of and urgent need for human connection. He was vice-president of the Council of the Dramatists Guild from 1981 to 2001.

He died of complications from COVID-19 on March 24, 2020, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida.[13]

  1. ^ "A Conversation With Terrence McNally, the Bard of American Theater". The New York Times. April 10, 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Reed, Rex (March 26, 2014). "A Provincial Lady: Tyne Daly Shines in Mothers and Sons". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  3. ^ Boehm, Mike (March 24, 2020). "Playwright Terrence McNally, 81, dies of coronavirus-related complications". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "Terrence McNally". Playbill Vault. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  5. ^ "American Stage Presents Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Lune". Broadway World.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  6. ^ "Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement 2019". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  7. ^ Libbey, Peter (June 10, 2019). "2019 Tony Award Winners: Full List (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  8. ^ Purcell, Carey (September 11, 2013). "Jason Alexander, Tyne Daly, Cheyenne Jackson and More Will Honor Terrence McNally at Skylight Theatre Company". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "Playwright Terrence McNally Coming to City This Month". Cumberland Times-News. October 1, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  10. ^ "Terrence McNally | Samuel French". www.samuelfrench.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference parademag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Frontain, Raymond (April 1, 2013). "Terrence McNally: Theater as Connection" (PDF). GLBTQ Archives. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  13. ^ Green, Jesse; Genzlinger, Neil (March 24, 2020). "Terrence McNally, Tony-Winning Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 81". New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.