Jack Carter Richardson (February 18, 1934 – July 1, 2012) was an American writer born in Manhattan, and his birthplace erroneously has been reported as Bristol, Virginia. He was known for his existentialist dramas of the early 1960s.

Biography

Raised in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, New York City, the son of Arthur Richardson, a piano player during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

who co-wrote " Too Fat Polka (She's Too Fat for Me)". After his mother died and his father remarried, he was raised by his grandmother. He graduated from Collegiate High School in Manhattan. Richardson later served in the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) in the United States Army during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He then earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Columbia University and studied at the University of Munich. In 1960, ''The Prodigal'', his first play, a retelling of the story of

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

, was produced

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

to critical acclaim, winning an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

and a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

. ''Gallows Humor'', a 1961 combination of two short plays, was well-received. Producer, William T. Gardner, staged its production at the Academy Playhouse in Lake Forest, Illinois in the late summer of 1973. Richardson's next two plays, ''Lorenzo'' (1963) and ''Xmas in Las Vegas'' (1965), were produced on Broadway but were critical and commercial failures."Richardson, Jack (1935-)", The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, vol. 2, p. 1138 (2007) (retrieved from Google Books).
/ref> From the 1960s, Richardson wrote dramatic criticism and essays for ''The New York Times'', ''New York Review of Books'', ''Esquire'', and ''Commentary'', as well as two novels, ''The Prison Life of Harris Filmore'' (1965) and ''Memoir of a Gambler'' (1980).

Personal life

Richardson married author Anne Roth (now

Anne Roiphe Anne Roiphe (born December 25, 1935) is an American writer and journalist. She is best known as a first-generation feminist and author of the novel ''Up the Sandbox'' (1970), filmed as a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand in 1972. In 1996, '' ...

) in 1957, and they had a daughter Emily Carter. The couple later divorced. Richardson's second wife was Judith Heidler (later Judith Silvia); they also divorced. She became executive director of the Newport Art Association and Museum and later a consultant to Green Collections in Yokohama, Japan. Richardson then married Susan E. Morse, an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated feature film editor best known for her work with

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

.Susan E. Morse
/ref> and, in 2012, for her editing of the popular FX Network show, "Louie," written and directed by and starring Louis C.K., for which Morse was nominated for an Emmy. Richardson and Morse had a son named Dwight, and the marriage lasted until Richardson died in Manhattan in July 2012.

References

External links

*
Jack Richardson
at Internet Off-Broadway Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Jack 1934 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Columbia College (New York) alumni Obie Award recipients Writers from Queens, New York People from Jackson Heights, Queens