Arthur Laurents Biography (1918?-)

Born July 14, 1918 (some sources say 1917), in Brooklyn, NY; son of Irving (an attorney) and Ada (a teacher; maiden name, Robbins) Laurents. Addresses: Agent: The Gersh Agency, 130 West 42nd St., Suite 2400, New York, NY 10036.; Contact: P.O. Box, 582, Quoque, NY 11959.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Writer, director
Birth Details: July 14, 1918?; Brooklyn, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Director
Invitation to a March, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1960
I Can Get for You Wholesale, Sam S. Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1962
Anyone Can Whistle, Majestic Theatre, New York City, 1964
The Enclave, Washington Theatre Club, Washington, DC, then TheatreFour, New York City, 1973
Gypsy, Piccadilly Theatre, London, 1973, then Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, 1974
My Mother Was a Fortune Teller, Hudson Guild Theatre, New York City, 1978
Scream, Alley Theatre, Houston, TX, 1978
The Madwoman of Central Park West, Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo,NY, and 22 Steps Theatre, New York City, 1979
So What Are We Gonna Do Now?, 1982
La cage aux folles, Palace Theatre, New York City, 1983, then Music Hall, Dallas, TX, 1987
Birds of Paradise, Promenade Theatre, New York City, 1987
Gypsy (revival), St. James Theatre, then Marquis Theatre, New YorkCity, 1991
Nick and Nora, Marquis Theatre, 1991
Jolson Sings Again, 1993
The Radical Mystique, 1995
My Good Name, 1997
Venecia, George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ, 2001
Major Tours
Director, The Time of the Cuckoo, U.S. cities, 1953
Director, Gypsy, U.S. cities, 1974 and 1989
Director, La cage aux folles, Australia, 1985, U.S. cities, 1986,and London, 1986
Film Work
(With Herbert Ross) Producer, The Turning Point, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1977
Film Appearances
Himself, The Celluloid Closet (documentary; also known as Celluloid Closet and Gefangen in der Traumfabrik), Sony Pictures Classics, 1996
Himself, Looking Back: The Making of "The Way We Were" (documentary), 1999
Himself, Rope Unleashed (documentary short film), Universal, 2001
Himself, Rescued from the Closet (documentary), Columbia TriStar Home Video, 2001
Himself, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (documentary; also known as Broadway: The Golden Age), 2002
Interviewee, West Side Memories (documentary), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists Home Entertainment, 2003
Television Appearances
Episodic
Changing Stages, PBS, 2001
Specials
Broadway Sings: The Music of Jule Styne, PBS, 1987

Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note, PBS, 1998
Gypsy Rose Lee: Naked Ambition, Arts and Entertainment, 1999
WRITINGS
Plays
Home of the Brave, produced at Belasco Theatre, New York City, 1945, produced in London as The Way Back, published by Random House, 1946
Heartsong, produced at Shubert Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1947
The Bird Cage, produced at Coronet Theatre, New York City, 1950, published by Dramatists Play Service, 1950
The Time of the Cuckoo, produced at Empire Theatre, New York City,1952, published by Random House, 1953
A Clearing in the Woods, produced at Belasco Theatre, 1957, published by Random House, 1957, revised edition, Dramatists Play Service, 1960
West Side Story, produced at National Theatre, Washington, DC, then WinterGarden Theatre, New York City, 1957, published by Random House, 1958
Gypsy (musical; based on Gypsy Rose Lee's memoirs of the same title), produced at Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1959, published by Random House, 1960
Invitation to a March, produced at Music Box Theatre, 1960, published by Random House, 1961
Anyone Can Whistle (musical), produced at Majestic Theatre, 1964,published by Random House, 1965
Do I Hear a Waltz? (musical; based on Laurents's The Time of the Cuckoo), produced at Forty-Sixth Street Theatre, New York City, 1965, published by Random House, 1966
Hallelujah Baby! (musical), produced at Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, 1967, published by Random House, 1967
The Enclave, produced at Washington Theatre Club, Washington, DC,then Theatre Four, 1973, published by Dramatists Play Service, 1974
Scream, produced at Alley Theatre, Houston, TX, 1978
(With Phyllis Newman) My Mother Was a Fortune Teller, produced atHudson Guild Theatre, 1978, produced as The Madwoman of Central Park West, 22 Steps Theatre, New York City, 1979
A Loss of Memory (one-act), produced at Southampton College Theatre, NY, 1981, published by Chilton, 1983
Nick and Nora, produced at Marquis Theatre, 1991
Jolson Sings Again, produced at Seattle Repertory Theater, 1995
The Time of the Cuckoo, produced at Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, NewYork City, 1999
Big Potato, produced at The Duke on 42nd St., New York City, 2000
(Adapter) Venecia, produced at George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ, 2001
Plays also published in anthologies and periodicals.
Screenplays
(With Frank Partos and Millen Brand) The Snake Pit (based on MaryJane Ward's novel), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1948
Rope (also known as Alfred Hitchcock's Rope; based on Patrick Hamilton's play), Warner Bros., 1948
(With Philip Yordan) Anna Lucasta (based on Yordan's play), Columbia, 1949
Caught, Enterprise Pictures, 1949
(With Carl Foreman) Home of the Brave, United Artists, 1949
Anastasia (based on Marcelle Maurette's play), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1956
Bonjour Tristesse (based on Francoise Sagan's novel), Columbia, 1958
(With Ernest Lehman) West Side Story, United Artists, 1961
(With Leonard Spigelgass) Gypsy, Warner Bros., 1962
(With David Lean and H. E. Bates) Summertime (also known as Summer Madness; based on the play The Time of the Cuckoo), United Artists, 1965
The Way We Were, Columbia, 1973
The Turning Point, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1977
Television Specials
The Light Fantastic; Or, How to Tell Your Past, Present and Maybe Future through Social Dancing, NBC, 1967
Radio Plays
Now Playing Tomorrow, 1939
Western Electric Communicade, 1944
The Last Day of the War, 1945
The Face, 1945
Radio Episodes
Hollywood Playhouse, Dr. Christian, The Thin Man, and Manhattan at Midnight, 1939-1940
The Man Behind the Gun, Army Service Force Presents, Assignment Home, and This Is Your FBI, 1943-1945
Novels
The Way We Were, Harper, 1972
The Turning Point, New American Library, 1977
Autobiography
Original Story: A Memoir of Broadway & Hollywood, Alfred A. Knopf, 2000

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

Gypsy was adapted for a television movie which aired on CBS in 1993.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Contemporary Dramatists, St. James Press, 1999
International Dictionary of Theatre, Volume 2: Playwrights,St. James Press, 1993

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