John Herbert was the pen name of John Herbert Brundage (13 October 1926 – 22 June 2001), a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

playwright,

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

, and theatre director best known for his 1967 play ''

Fortune and Men's Eyes ''Fortune and Men's Eyes'' is a 1967 play and 1971 film written by John Herbert about a young man's experience in prison, exploring themes of homosexuality and sexual slavery. Plot of the play The plot follows Smitty, a 17-year-old, after he is ...

''.

Background

Herbert was born in Toronto on October 13, 1926.John Herbert
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

. After completing high school, he worked in the advertising department of

Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's g ...

and began competing in drag pageants. In the 1940s, Herbert was the victim of an attempted robbery while he was dressed as a woman. His assailants falsely claimed that Herbert had solicited them for sex, and Herbert was accused and convicted of indecency under Canada's same-sex sexual activity law, which was not repealed until 1969. After being convicted, Herbert served time in a youth

reformatory A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concern ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Ontario. Herbert later served another sentence for indecency at reformatory in Mimico. Later, Herbert travelled across North America doing odd jobs to support himself before returning to Toronto in 1955. He studied at the National Ballet School of Canada and at

Dora Mavor Moore Dora Mavor Moore, ( Mavor; 8 April 1888 – 15 May 1979) was a Canadian actress, teacher and director who was a pioneer of Canadian theatre. Life and work Born Dora Mavor in Glasgow, Scotland, she moved with her family to Toronto, Ontari ...

's New Play Society. Herbert co-founded the Garret Theatre with his sister Nana Brundage in 1960."John Herbert Dies at 75; Wrote of Prison Life"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 27, 2001. Herbert wrote ''

'' in 1964 based on his time behind bars.John Herbert
at

The Literary Encyclopedia ''The Literary Encyclopedia'' is an online reference work first published in October 2000. It was founded as an innovative project, designed to bring the benefits of information technology to what at the time was still a largely conservative l ...

. He included the character of Queenie as an authorial

self-insertion Self-insertion is a literary device in which the author writes themselves into the story under the guise of, or from the perspective of, a fictional character (see author surrogate). The character, overtly or otherwise, behaves like, has the p ...

.John Herbert
at the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. The play was first staged as a

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

workshop directed by

Bruno Gerussi Bruno Santos Gerussi (7 May 1928 – 21 November 1995) was a Canadian stage and television actor, best known for the lead role in the CBC Television series '' The Beachcombers'' from 1972 to 1990. He also performed onstage at the Stratford Fest ...

, in 1965, but Herbert was unable to find a theatre company willing to mount a full production in Canada. It ultimately premiered as an

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 ...

play in

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, produced by

David Rothenberg David Rothenberg (born 1962) is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He is also a composer and jazz musician whose books and recordings reflect a long ...

and Mitchell Nestor, on February 14, 1967 at the Broadway Actor's Playhouse. Because of his past conviction, Herbert faced difficulties entering the United States to attend productions of his work. ''Fortune and Men's Eyes'' remains the most widely produced play in the history of Canadian theatre, both in Canada and internationally. It has been translated into more than 40 languages and staged internationally. A motion picture version of the work, based on a screenplay by Herbert, was directed by

Harvey Hart Harvey Hart (March 19, 1928 – November 22, 1989) was a Canadian television and film director and a television producer. Hart studied at the University of Toronto before being hired by the CBC in 1952.Rist, Peter Harry (2001). "Harvey Hart ...

in 1971. The play had a profound impact on producer David Rothenberg. Rothenberg went on to found the Fortune Society, a nonprofit advocacy organization that supports incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated people reintegrate into society. Although none of Herbert's other plays were as successful as ''Fortune and Men's Eyes'', Herbert remained active as a dancer, a theatre director, an acting teacher and a theatre lecturer at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

Glendon College Glendon College is a public liberal arts college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formally the federated bilingual campus of York University, it is one of the school's nine colleges and 11 faculties with 100 full-time faculty members and a student po ...

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Herbert died in 2001. The manual typewriter on which he composed ''Fortune and Men's Eyes'' is in the possession of the

Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives, formerly known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1973 as the Canadian Gay Liberation Movement Archives. The ArQuives acquires, preserves, and pro ...

. A selection of manuscripts, letters and personal papers were donated to the University of Waterloo Library in 1982.

Selected works

* ''Felice'' (1955) * ''Pearl Divers'' (1956) * ''Beer Room'' (1957) * ''Close Friends'' (1958) * ''A Ruby Fell'' (1959) * ''Time To a Waltz'' (1959) * ''Private Club'' (1960) * ''A Household God'' (1961) * ''World of Woyzeck'' (1963) * ''Born of Medusa's Blood'' (1965) * ''

'' (1967) * ''Omphale and the Hero'' (1971) * ''The Dinosaurs'' (1973) * ''The Token Star'' (1976) * ''The Power of Paper Dolls'' (1979) * ''Magda'' (1981) * ''The Butterfly and the Nightingale'' (1984) * ''The Biographers'' (1985) * ''Blanche and Rose's Dream Song'' (1986) * ''The Primadonna'' (1988) * ''Broken Antique Dolls'' (1991) * ''Merchants of Bay Street'' (1993) * ''Family of a Monster'' (1995) * ''Marilyn at Seventy'' (1995) * ''Marlene Richdiet'' (1998) * ''One Castle Court'' (1999)

Notes

References

External links

*
John Herbert
at the Internet Off Broadway Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, John 1926 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian gay writers Writers from Toronto Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Canadian theatre directors LGBTQ theatre directors Canadian male dancers Canadian drag queens Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Gay dramatists and playwrights Academic staff of Glendon College Drag performers from Toronto