Iris Rainer Dart ( Rainer; born March 3, 1944) is an American author and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

for television and the stage. Her most notable novel is ''

Beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

'', which was made into a 1988 film of the same name. She has also written several stage musicals as well as for television shows, such as ''

The Sonny and Cher Show ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' was an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was ...

''. She also voiced Donna, Peter Cottontail's love interest, in the 1971 stop-motion Easter classic, ''

Here Comes Peter Cottontail ''Here Comes Peter Cottontail'' is a 1971 Easter stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, currently distributed by Universal Television and based on the 1957 novel ''The Easter Bunny That Overslept'' by Priscil ...

''.

Early life

Dart was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania, and was an actress as a youth with the Curtaineers, an inter-racial theater group at the

Settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

, at the

Pittsburgh Playhouse Pittsburgh Playhouse is Point Park University's performing arts center located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses three performance spaces and is home to The Rep, Point Park's resident professional theatre company, as well as three student co ...

and The

White Barn Theatre The White Barn Theatre was a theater founded in 1947 by actress and producer Lucille Lortel on her property in Norwalk, Connecticut. The theater premiered numerous plays by established playwrights that often continued to successful Broadway and O ...

. She also went to classes at the Pittsburgh Playhouse as a child.BWW News Des
"Donna Murphy to Return to Broadway in 'The People In The Picture'"
broadwayworld.com, October 31, 2010 She graduated from

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and S ...

in 1962 and was inducted into their alumni hall of fame in 2009. She is also a graduate of

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

with a degree in theater.

Career

In an interview (Summer 2007), when asked the question: "Has the Jewish cultural dynamic in your upbringing influenced what and how you write?", Dart replied "Unquestionably. I grew up in a household where both my parents were immigrants – my mother from Russia, father from Lithuania – and they spoke more

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

in my house than English, so it was just a iccompletely a part of who I was." Dart has written nine novels, including ''Beaches''. She wrote for ''The Sonny and Cher Show''

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...

in the 1970s. She got the idea to write about a woman "loosely based on 'the no holds barred outrageous person' that she found in Cher. The character became "Cee Cee Bloom" in her ...novel ''Beaches'' later made into the iconic film of the same name starring

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;'' Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden ...

."BWW News Des
"Iris Rainer Dart To Be Honored By Allerdice High School as Inaugural Inductees Into the School's New Hall of Fame 9/24"
broadwayworld.com, August 20, 2009 She wrote the book and lyrics for the 2009 stage musical, ''Laughing Matters'', for the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...

, California. Her next work was the

Roundabout Theatre The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizab ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of her new musical, ''

The People in the Picture ''The People in the Picture'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart and music by Mike Stoller and Artie Butler. The musical is about a grandmother recalling her life in the Yiddish theater and the Holocaust. Production ''The Peopl ...

'', which opened on April 28, 2011, and closed on June 19, 2011, and starred

Donna Murphy Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1959) is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in '' Passion'' (1994–1995 ...

Personal life

She was married to rock concert promoter Steve Wolf until they divorced in 1977 (less than half a year before he was murdered when robbers broke into his house). She is currently married to Stephen Dart, a California businessman. She has two adult children, a son (by Wolf) and a daughter (by Dart), and two grandchildren.

Bibliography

Source: Fiction Database"Book Lists, Iris Rainer Dart"
fictiondb.com, accessed January 26, 2011 *''The Boys in the Mailroom'' (1980) *''

'' (1985) *''Til the Real Thing Comes Along'' (1987) *'' I'll Be There'' (republished as ''Beaches 2: I'll Be There'') (1991) *''The Stork Club'' (1992) *''Show Business Kills'' (1995) *''When I Fall in Love'' (1999) *''Some Kind of Miracle'' (2003)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dart, Iris Rainer American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Living people Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni 20th-century American novelists Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 1944 births Taylor Allderdice High School alumni