Romulus Linney (playwright)

Romulus Linney
Born	Romulus Zachariah Linney IV September 21, 1930(1930-09-21) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 15, 2011(2011-01-15) (aged 80) Germantown, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Playwright
Spouse	Ann Leggett Perse (1963–1966; divorced) Margaret Jane Andrews (1967–1994; divorced) Laura Callanan(1996-his death)
Children	Laura Linney Susan Linney
Relatives	Romulus Zachariah Linney (Great-grandfather)

Romulus Zachariah Linney IV (September 21, 1930 – January 15, 2011) was an American playwright and professor.

Life and career

Linney was born in Philadelphia, the son of Maitland Clabaugh (née Thompson) and Romulus Zachariah Linney III. His great-grandfather was Republican Congressman Romulus Zachariah Linney. Linney was raised in Boone, North Carolina and Madison, Tennessee. He was the author of three novels, thirteen plays and twenty-two short plays that have been produced in the United States, Europe and Asia. Several of his plays dealt with Appalachian themes (Tennessee, Holy Ghosts, Sand Mountain, Gint and Heathen Valley), while others focused on European and military stories (The Sorrows of Frederick, 2, The Love Suicides at the Schofield Barracks) His romantic tale of Lord Byron, Childe Byron, premiered at the Leslie Cheek Theater|Virginia Museum Theater (VMT) in 1977, directed by Keith Fowler, and was for a time considered scandalous when Fowler, with Linney's support, resigned rather than remove homosexual content as demanded by VMT's trustees. Judith Tingley wrote of his novel, Slowly, by thy Hand Unfurled, "This is a strange and disturbing work," and Thomas M. Disch described his novel Jesus Tales as "a delight."

He earned a BA from Oberlin College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Linney received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as Guggenheim, Rockefeller, National Endowment for the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts grants, two Obie awards, a Yukio Mishima Prize for Fiction, and the Award for Literature, Award of Merit and Gold Medal for Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He received an honorary doctorates from Oberlin in 1994, from Appalachian State University in 1995, and from Wake Forest University in 1998. He was a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Fellowship of Southern Writers, National Theatre Conference, College of Fellows of the American Theatre, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Corporation of Yaddo.

Linney had been chair of the MFA Playwriting program at Columbia University’s School of the Arts and Professor of Playwriting in the Actors Studio MFA. Program at The New School in New York. An interview with Linney (both the original audio and a transcript) appears in Blackbird In February 2012, a performance space in the Signature Theater Company's new Frank Gehry-designed building on Manhattan's West 42nd Street, a group he had been associated with since its first season in 1991, will be named in Linney's honor.

Death

Romulus Linney died on January 15, 2011, aged 80, from lung cancer.

Family

He was the father of actress Laura Linney. An interview with Laura Linney can be found at Bombsite.

Works

2: Goering at Nuremberg Akhmatova Ambrosio Appalachia Sounding April Snow Ave Maria Can Can Captivity Of Pixie Shedman, The Childe Byron Choir Practice Christmas Carol, A Clair De Lune Death Of King Philip, The Democracy Democracy And Esther

El Hermano F.M. Gardens Of Eden Gint Gold And Silver Waltz Goodbye Oscar Goodbye, Howard Heathen Valley Holy Ghosts Hrosvitha Juliet Just Folks Klonsky And Schwartz Komachi Lark

Laughing Stock A Lesson Before Dying Love Drunk Love Suicide At Schofield Barracks, The Masterbuilder Johnson Mountain Memory Old Man Joseph And His Family Oscar Over Here Over Martinis, Driving Somewhere Pageant Pops Precious Memories Sand Mountain Sand Mountain Matchmaking Seasons, The, Man's Estate Shotgun

Songs Of Love Sorrows Of Frederick, The Southern Comfort Spain Stars Strindberg: Miss Julie and The Ghost Sonata Tennessee Three Poets True Crimes Two Whores Unchanging Love Why The Lord Come To Sand Mountain Woman Without A Name, A Wrath Yancey Yankee Doodle

External links

• Romulus Linney at the Internet Broadway Database
• Romulus Linney at the Internet Movie Database