Jon Victor Jory (born June 1, 1938,
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
) is a theatrical director instrumental in the development of
Actors Theatre of Louisville; he is also widely rumored to be the writer behind the pseudonym
Jane Martin.
Early life
Jory is a child of
Hollywood character actors, namely his father
Victor Jory, who played Jonas Wilkerson, the scheming overseer in the 1939 film ''
Gone with the Wind'', and his mother
Jean Inness, who played nurse Beatrice Fain in the American
medical drama
A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...
television series ''
Dr. Kildare''. Jory received his
Actor's Equity card as a young child.
Career
Jory was at the forefront of the regional theater movement of the 1960s, which began with the opening of the
Guthrie Theater in 1963, showing that not all theater talent was centralized in New York City and Los Angeles. Jory served as artistic director of the
Long Wharf Theatre from 1965 to 1966; his contract was terminated once the fledgling theater hit rough financial waters.
In 1969, Jory took over the helm of Actors Theatre of
Louisville, a small regional theater just five years old. Under his leadership, it became one of the top theaters in the country. Jory's major accomplishment was the foundation and cultivation of the annual Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, beginning in 1976. It has since produced a number of outstanding plays including ''
The Gin Game'' (1978), ''
Crimes of the Heart'' (1981), ''
Cementville'' (1991) and ''
Dinner with Friends'' (1998), not to mention almost everything
Jane Martin has ever written.
In 2017, Jory began teaching at the
UCLA Department of Theater as a Visiting Professor.
Retirement and honors
Jory retired from Actors Theatre in 2000. That fall, he joined the faculty at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
School of Drama as Professor of Acting and Directing. Also, in 2000, Jory was inducted into the
American Theatre Hall of Fame. He is the President's Chair of the Performing Arts Department at
Santa Fe University of Art and Design.
He holds honorary doctorates from the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
, the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...
, and
Bellarmine University.
Asked if Jane Martin's identity will be revealed after her death, Jory has stated with a laugh, "That's a press conference no one will come to. By the time I die, no one will care anyway."
Publications
*
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Men' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Actor's Choice: Scenes for Teens' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Anne of Green Gables' Playscripts, Inc.
*
The Bear' Brooklyn Publishers
*
Captain Hook and the Warrior Amazons' Heuer Publishing
*
Captain Hook's Very Bad Christmas' Heuer Publishing
*
The Circus of the Seven Deadly Sins' Brooklyn Publishers
*
Darcy and Elizabeth' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Detective Father Brown' Heuer Publishing
*
The Drama School From Hell' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Emma' Playscripts, Inc.
*
The Explosive Fairy Tale Princess Diaries' Brooklyn Publishers
*
Friday Night Live!' Brooklyn Publishers
*
The Gift of the Magi' Brooklyn Publishers
*
The Gift of the Magi' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Goddess Gap Year' Brooklyn Publishers
*
The Great Cases of Sherlock Holmes' Heuer Publishing
*
The Haunted House Farce' Heuer Publishing
*
Mean Girls in Fairyland' Brooklyn Publishers
*
Orpheus and What's-Her-Name' Brooklyn Publishers
*
Passing Periods at Pomegranate Prep' Pioneer Drama Service, 2018
*
Pride and Prejudice' Playscripts, Inc.
*
The Prom Game' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Salvador Dali at the Beach' Playscripts, Inc.
*
The Secret Lives of Superheroes, Vol. 1' Heuer Publishing
*
The Secret Lives of Superheroes, Vol. 2' Heuer Publishing
*
Sense and Sensibility' Playscripts, Inc.
*
Sherlock Holmes' Hat' Heuer Publishing
*
Sherlock in Love' Pioneer Drama Service, 2019
*
Sixty Second Singles' Playscripts, Inc.
*
The Whatsit' Pioneer Drama Service, 2017
*
Wilbur Peppy's Burger Quest' Heuer Publishing
* ''20/20 : twenty one-act plays from twenty years of the Humana Festival / edited by Michele Volansky and Michael Bigelow Dixon; foreword by Jon Jory.''
Smith and Kraus,
Lyme, NH
* ''Tips. ideas for actors'' Smith & Kraus Pub Inc, 2000,
* ''Tips. ideas for directors'' Smith & Kraus Pub Inc, 2002,
* ''Tips II. more ideas for actors'' Smith & Kraus Pub Inc, 2004,
* ''Pride and Prejudice: A Romantic Comedy'' Playscripts Inc, 2006
* ''University: a full evening of theatre in ten parts''
Dramatic Publishing, 1983
* ''Love, Death and the Prom'' Dramatic Publishing, 1991,
References
External links
Biographical article on ''The Playwrights Database''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jory, Jon
1938 births
American theatre directors
University of Washington faculty
Arts in Louisville, Kentucky
Artists from Louisville, Kentucky
Living people
College of Santa Fe faculty
Artists from Pasadena, California