Sherman Yellen (born February 25, 1932,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and political commentator.

Early life and education

Sherman Yellen was born in 1932 to Nathan and Lillian Yellen. He attended the High School of Music & Art and graduated from

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

in 1953. At Bard, Yellen studied creative writing with Texas novelist William Humphrey, was named John Bard Scholar in his sophomore year and received the Wilton E. Lockwood Award for Literature upon graduation. In later years he received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters. He attended graduate school at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

where he studied 18th century

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Career

Yellen's first play was ''New Gods For Lovers'', which was produced at the HB Playhouse in New York. This play, entered in a playwriting competition, won the Hallmark Award, and he began to write

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

s for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Yellen also wrote '' Beauty and the Beast,'' and '' An Early Frost,'' television films for NBC''.'' His

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

television drama, ''Day Before Battle'', was written in collaboration with his friend, playwright

Peter Stone Peter Stone may refer to: *Pete Stone, Australian footballer in the 1956 Summer Olympics *Peter G. Stone (born 1957), British archaeologist *Peter Stone (cricketer) (born 1938), New Zealand cricketer *Peter Stone (professor) (born 1971), professor ...

, and appeared on '' Studio One''. Yellen also wrote adaptations of '' Great Expectations'', '' Dr.Jekyl and Mr. Hyde'', '' Phantom of the Opera.'' Yellen also wrote for the PBS series '' The Adams Chronicles''. Yellen's work in

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

includes his

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-nominated

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for the musical, '' The Rothschilds'', with music by

Jerry Bock Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical '' Fiorello!'' and the Tony A ...

and

Sheldon Harnick Sheldon Mayer Harnick (April 30, 1924 – June 23, 2023) was an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as '' Fiorello!'', '' She Loves Me'', and ''Fiddler on the Roof''. Ear ...

; ''Rex'', a musical about the life and loves of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

with music by Richard Rodgers and ''Strangers'', a biographical drama about

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

. His satirical sketch, ''Delicious Indignities'', appeared in the erotic revue, '' Oh! Calcutta!'', which featured sketches from

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

, and others. He later incorporated the music of popular songwriter Jimmy McHugh into a new musical about young journalists in Paris in 1927, ''Lucky in the Rain'', which had a successful run at the Goodspeed Opera. His collaboration with composer Wally Harper on ''Say Yes'' created a light hearted-musical comedy about the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

, produced in 2000 for the

Berkshire Theatre Festival The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating 100 years of theatre in 2028. History The main building of the Berkshire Theatre Festival was originally the Stockbridge Casin ...

. In ''Josephine Tonight!'', a musical biography of the early life of

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

produced by Theatre Building Chicago, Yellen was librettist and lyricist to composer Harper. "Josephine Tonight!" was recently revived as "Blackbird" and was staged in Washington, D.C., and Florida. Yellen's most recent straight play, ''December Fools'', a comedy-drama about a composer's widow and her daughter, was produced by Abingdon Theatre Company in 2006. The same year, ''Josephine Tonight'' was produced by Theatre Building Chicago. Yellen has written numerous op-ed columns for ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', focusing on culture and American politics from a left-wing perspective.

Personal life

As an undergraduate at

, Yellen met Joan Fuhr. The couple wed after their graduation and have two sons, Nicholas and Christopher. Yellen lives on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Film and television credits

* ''Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less'' (TV movie) – Writer (teleplay) 1990 * ''I'll Take Manhattan'' (TV mini-series) – Writer (writer) 1987 * '' An Early Frost'' (TV movie) – Writer (story) 1985 * ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1983 TV movie) – Writer (writer) 1983 * ''The Last Giraffe'' (TV movie) – Writer (writer) 1979 * ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

'' (TV series) – Writer (1 episode, 1976): " Beauty and the Beast" * '' The Adams Chronicles'' (PBS Series) – Writer 1976 * ''Great Expectations'' (TV movie) – Writer (writer) 1974 * ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (TV movie) – Writer (writer) 1973 * '' Oh! Calcutta!'' – Writer (contributions) 1972 * ''The Iron Horse'' (TV series) – Writer (1 episode, 1967): "Welcome for the General" * ''12 O'Clock High'' (TV series) – Writer (1 episode, 1965): "Target 802" * ''Studio One in Hollywood'' (TV series) – Writer (1 episode, 1956): "A Day Before Battle"

Theatre credits

* ''Josephine Tonight'' (revised five character version) Metro Stage, Written by Sherman Yellen – 2012 * ''December Fools'' (Original, play) Written by Sherman Yellen – 2006 * ''Josephine Tonight! (''Original TBC Chicago studio production of musical) Book and Lyrics by Sherman Yellen – 2006 * ''This Fair World'' (Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen * ''Say Yes!'' aka ''This Fair World'' (Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen – 2000 * ''Lucky in the Rain ''(Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen – ''1997 '' * ''Strangers'' (Original, Play) Written by Sherman Yellen – ''1979'' *'' Oh! Calcutta!'' (Revival, Musical, Revue) - Sketch contribution ("Delicious Indignities") by Sherman Yellen – 1976–1989 * '' Rex'' (Original, Musical) – Book by Sherman Yellen – 1976; revised version Toronto Civic Light Opera Company 2010 * '' The Rothschilds'' (Original, Musical) – Book by Sherman Yellen – 1970–1972

Awards

* Hallmark Award – ''New Gods for Lovers'' * Christopher Award – ''

'' (" Beauty and the Beast" episode) * Emmy Award – '' The Adams Chronicles'' * Emmy Award – '' An Early Frost''

External links

Sherman Yellen papers, 1957-2015
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

. * *
Sherman Yellen on The Huffington Post

Sherman Yellen on The Environmentalist

Interview with Sherman Yellen on Theatre in Chicago

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yellen, Sherman Writers from New York City 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 1932 births Bard College alumni Living people Environmental bloggers Primetime Emmy Award winners