Paul Francis Schmidt (January 29, 1934 – February 19, 1999) was an American translator, poet, playwright, and essayist.

Biography

He graduated from Nashua High School in 1951,

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theolog ...

in 1955, and studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. He studied mime with

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...

and acting with

Jacques Charon Jacques Charon (27 February 1920 – 15 October 1975) was a French actor and film director. Born in Paris, Charon trained at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique (CNSAD) and made his début at the Comédie-Française in 1941. D ...

. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Intelligence, from 1958 to 1960. Schmidt was professor at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, from 1967 to 1976. He also taught at the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

. He translated Euripides, Chekhov, Velimir Khlebnikov, Brecht, Genet, Gogol, Marivaux, and Mayakovsky. He wrote three plays, one of which, ''Black Sea Follies'' won the

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

, and the

Joseph Kesselring Prize Joseph Otto Kesselring (July 21, 1902 – November 5, 1967) was an American playwright who was best known for writing '' Arsenic and Old Lace'', a hit on Broadway from 1939 to 1944 and in other countries as well. Biography He was born in ...

for best play. Schmidt's work was profiled in ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

''. He was married to

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series '' The West Wing'' ...

. He is buried at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...

, Brooklyn, New York.

Bibliography

*''Night Life'', Painted Leaf Press, 1996, *''Winter Solstice'', Painted Leaf Press, 1996,

Translations

*''Arthur Rimbaud: Complete Works'', 1975; HarperPerennial, 2000, *''Meyerhold at work'', University of Texas Press, 1980, * * * * *

Critical studies and reviews of Schmidt's work

* * ;The Plays of Anton Chekhov *

References

External links

PAUL SCHMIDT WORKS WELL WITH GENIUSES''The Stray Dog Cabaret'' translated by Paul Schmidt
*http://broadwayworld.com/people/Paul_Schmidt/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Paul 1934 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American translators American male poets American male dramatists and playwrights People from Brooklyn United States Army soldiers Colgate University alumni Harvard University alumni Poets from New York (state) University of Texas at Austin faculty Yale University faculty Russian–English translators Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery