Lawrence Lipton (1898 – July 9, 1975) was a Polish-born Jewish American journalist, writer, and

Beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

poet, as well as the father of

James Lipton Louis James Lipton (September 19, 1926 – March 2, 2020) was an American writer, actor, talk show host, and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He was the executive producer, writer, and host of ...

. He is also known for coining the term ''

Disneyfication In the field of sociology, the term ''Disneyfication'' describes the commercial transformation of things (e.g. entertainment) or environments into something simplified, controlled, and 'safe'—reminiscent of the Walt Disney brand (such as its med ...

'' in 1959.

Early life

Lipton was born in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland, in 1898, the son of Rose and Abraham Lipschitz. He immigrated to the United States in 1903 and settled in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Career

Lipton began his career as a graphic artist and won an award for his illustration of a version of the ''

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

'', the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at su ...

liturgical text. He also worked as a journalist, writing for the ''

Jewish Daily Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' and working for a movie theater as a publicity director. During the 1920s, he associated with Chicago writers

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of '' Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

Harriet Monroe Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, which she established in 1912 ...

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and play ...

, and

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

. Lipton later wrote for ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'', ''The Quarterly Review of Literature'', and the ''

Chicago Review ''Chicago Review'' is a student-run literary magazine founded in 1946 and published quarterly in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. The magazine features contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, often publishing works in tr ...

''. His other novels include ''Brother, The Laugh Is Bitter'' and ''In Secret Battle'', as well as a poetry book, ''

Rainbow at Midnight "Rainbow at Midnight" is a song written by Lost John Miller. The song originally made the Juke Box Folk chart when it was recorded by The Carlisle Brothers in 1946. "Rainbow at Midnight reached number five on the Juke Box Folk chart. Cover ver ...

''. His book ''The Holy Barbarians'' (1959) linked Lipton to

the Beats The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

as well as coined the term ''

''. He appeared in ''

The Hypnotic Eye ''The Hypnotic Eye'' is a 1960 horror film, released by Allied Artists on February 27, 1960, starring Jacques Bergerac, Allison Hayes, Merry Anders, Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, and Ferdinand Demara, billed as "Fred Demara". Plot A young woman ente ...

'' (1960) as "King of the Beatniks". In the episode "Swan Song" on the show ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'', Rory is showing Jess her copy of ''The Holy Barbarians'' by Lipton, and says that he is "the father of the guy that does those Actors Studio interviews on TV", to which Jess responds "It's weird that a beatniky guy would have a conservative son like that." ''The Holy Barbarians'' was also used as a band name for Holy Barbarians, a short-lived

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, active from 1995 to 1997.

Personal life

Lipton's first wife was Dorothy Omansky. He next married Betty Weinberg, a teacher; their son was ''

Inside the Actors Studio ''Inside the Actors Studio'' is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered on June 12, 1994 on Bravo, airing for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel ...

'' host

. He was later married to author Craig Rice and Nettie Esther Brooks (from 1948 to 1975). Lipton died in Los Angeles on July 9, 1975, at the age of 77.

References

External links

Lawrence Lipton Papers InventoryAmerican Ethnography Quasimonthly , Excerpt from ''The Holy Barbarians''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipton, Lawrence 1898 births 1975 deaths Journalists from Chicago 20th-century American journalists Polish emigrants to the United States American male journalists American people of Polish-Jewish descent American male poets Jewish American poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American poets Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American Jews