William Gibson (playwright)

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William Gibson, photographed by Ed Ford, 1964

William Gibson (born November 13, 1914 in New York City , New York , † November 25, 2008 in Stockbridge , Massachusetts ) was an American playwright and writer .

Life

William Gibson attended the City College of New York . In 1948 he wrote his first book Dinny and the Witches , but only with the novel Wie Wasser unter der Brücke (The Cobweb) published in 1954 did he achieve success. The book was filmed the following year with his participation as The Lost, with Richard Widmark and Lauren Bacall in the lead roles. In 1958, Two for the Seesaw was his first play on Broadway . It had 750 performances and was nominated for a Tony Award . Robert Wise filmed it in 1962 with Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine . 1959 followed with The Miracle Worker (light in the dark) his most successful work. Based on the story by Helen Keller , it won the Tony Award in 1960 and had 719 performances between 1959 and 1961. The 1962 film adaptation of Arthur Penn, starring Anne Bancroft , won two Oscars , and Gibson was nominated for another Oscar for his script adaptation. In 2000 there was another film adaptation under the title The Miracle Worker .

In 1964 he was nominated for another Tony Award for the musical Golden Boy , created in collaboration with Clifford Odets . By 2005, six more Gibson plays were performed on Broadway, including A Cry of Players about the life of the young William Shakespeare and Golda's Balcony about Golda Meir , which came to a total of 493 performances from 2003 to 2005.

Works

  • Dinny and the Witches , 1948 - drama
  • The Cobweb , 1954 - Roman (German: Like water under the bridge , Hamburg 1956)
  • Two for the Seesaw , 1958 - Drama (German play for two , Frankfurt am Main 1976)
  • The Miracle Worker , 1959 - Drama (Eng. The way into the light , Frankfurt am Main 1965)
  • Golden Boy , 1964 - Musical (book)
  • A Cry of Players , 1968 - drama
  • Seesaw , 1973 - Musical (based on the play Two for the Seesaw )
  • Golda , 1977 - drama
  • Monday After the Miracle , 1982 - drama
  • Raggedy Ann , 1986 - Musical (book)
  • Golda's Balcony , 2003 - drama

Filmography (selection)

Literary source and script

  • 1955: The Lost (The cobweb)
  • 1962: Light in the Dark (The Miracle Worker)
  • 2007: Golda's Balcony

Literary template

Awards

  • 1958 Tony Award nomination for Two for the Seesaw
  • 1960 Tony Award for The Miracle Worker
  • 1963 Oscar nomination for The Miracle Worker
  • 1965 Tony Award nomination for Golden Boy

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gibson, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American playwright
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 2008
Place of death Stockbridge , Massachusetts, United States