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Kerr, Walter (Francis)
Kerr, Walter [Francis] (1913–), drama critic for the New York Herald Tribune (1951–66) and The New York Times (1966–83), won a Pulitzer Prize (1978) for his drama criticism. His own writing of plays includes Murder in Reverse (1935), adaptations of Rip Van Winkle (1937), The Vicar of Wakefield (1938), Molière's The Miser (1942), and Sing Out, Sweet Land (1944), an opera libretto that is a musical biography of America. His books include How Not To Write a Play (1955), Criticism and Censorship (1957), Pieces of Eight (1957), The Theatre in Spite of Itself (1963), Tragedy and Comedy (1967), Thirty Plays Hath November (1969), God on the Gymnasium Floor (1971), The Silent Clowns (1975), and Journey to the Center of the Theater (1979).
Jean [ Collins] Kerr (1923– ), his wife, collaborated with him in adapting Werfel's The Song of Bernadette (1946) and on the musical comedy Goldilocks (1948). Her own humorous plays include Mary, Mary (1961), Poor Richard (1964), Finishing Touches (1973), and Lunch Hour (1980). Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1957), The Snake Has All the Lines (1960), and How I Got To Be Perfect (1978) are humorous autobiographies. |
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Kerr, Walter (Francis)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Kerr, Walter (Francis)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-KerrWalterFrancis.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Kerr, Walter (Francis)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-KerrWalterFrancis.html |
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Kerr, Walter (Francis)
Kerr, Walter [Francis] (1913–96), critic and playwright. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, and educated at De Pauw and Northwestern Universities, then from 1938 to 1945 he taught speech and drama at Catholic University in Washington. Kerr wrote librettos and/or sketches for the musicals Count Me In (1942), Sing Out, Sweet Land! (1944), and Touch and Go (1949), directing the last two as well. In 1950 he became drama critic for Commonweal and the next year for the Herald Tribune. It was during his tenure on this paper that he staged his wife Jean Kerr's comedy, King of Hearts (1954), and with her wrote the book for the musical Goldilocks (1958), which he directed. With the demise of the Herald Tribune in 1966, he became drama critic for the Times, but soon confined himself to Sunday critiques. Among his books are How Not to Write a Play (1955), Pieces at Eight (1957), The Decline of Pleasure (1962), Theatre in Spite of Itself (1963), and Journey to the Center of the Theatre (1979). Kerr's writings, known for their insight, readability, and intuitive sense of quality, earned him a Pulitzer Prize, and in 1990 Broadway's Ritz Theatre was renamed after him.
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Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Kerr, Walter (Francis)." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Kerr, Walter (Francis)." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-KerrWalterFrancis.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Kerr, Walter (Francis)." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-KerrWalterFrancis.html |
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Walter Francis Kerr
Walter Francis Kerr 1913–96, American drama critic, b. Evanston, Ill. He wrote for the theater in the 1930s, and became drama critic for the New York Herald Tribune in 1951 and for the New York Times in 1966. His books include How Not to Write a Play (1955), The Decline of Pleasure (1962), The Theater in Spite of Itself (1963), and Tragedy and Comedy (1967). His book The Silent Clowns (1975) spurred a revival of interest in film comics of the twenties. He won a Pulitzer Prize for dramatic criticism in 1978. |
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Cite this article
"Walter Francis Kerr." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Walter Francis Kerr." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Kerr-Wal.html "Walter Francis Kerr." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Kerr-Wal.html |
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