Lawrence Langner (May 30, 1890 – 1962) was a playwright,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and producer who also pursued a career as a patent attorney.

Life

Born near Swansea, South Wales and working most of his life in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, he started his theatrical career as one of the founders of the

Washington Square Players The Washington Square Players (WSP) was a theatre troupe and production company that existed from 1915 to 1918 in Manhattan, New York City. It started as a semi-amateur Little Theatre then matured into a Repertory theatre with its own tourin ...

troupe in 1914. He was also involved in

patent law A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

and founded the National Inventors Council. In 1919 he founded the

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of th ...

, where he supervised over 200 productions. He was also founder and Chairman of the American Shakespeare Festival, and with his wife,

Armina Marshall Armina Marshall (1895-1991) was a playwright and actress, and the first co-director of New York's Theatre Guild. Marshall's New York acting debut was in 1922 in Paul Claudel's ''The Tidings Brought to Mary''. She shifted to producing once she ...

, he created and operated the

Westport Country Playhouse Westport Country Playhouse, is a not-for-profit regional theater in Westport, Connecticut, Westport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1931 by Lawrence Langner, a New York theater producer. Langner remodeled an 1830s tannery with a Broadway-quality ...

. Besides theatre, Lawrence Langner wrote several books, including an autobiography, titled ''Magic Curtain''. He was awarded the 1958

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for best play production (together with his wife and partners,

Theresa Helburn Theresa Helburn (January 12, 1887 – August 18, 1959)"Theresa Helburn"
Internet Broadway ...

and

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...

) for ''

Sunrise at Campobello ''Sunrise at Campobello'' is a 1960 Warner Bros. biographical film telling the story of the struggles of future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family when Roosevelt was stricken with paralysis at the age of 39 ...

''.

Best known works

* ''The Pursuit of Happiness'' * ''Sunrise at Campobello'' * ''Magic Curtain'' (autobiography) * ''The Importance of Wearing Clothes''

References

Ladas & Parry (Intellectual Property Firm) - A Brief History
* * Scott Langston, "Exodus in Early Twentieth Century America: Charles Reynolds Brown and Lawrence Langner," in Michael Lieb, Emma Mason and Jonathan Roberts (eds), ''The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible'' (Oxford, OUP, 2011), 433–446.

External links

*
Lawrence Langner papers, 1915-1962
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

* Lawrence Langner Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Langner, Lawrence 1890 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American lawyers American theatre directors People from Westport, Connecticut People from Swansea Welsh emigrants to the United States American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers