Gabriel Miller Collection of Arthur Laurents, 1946-2010 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Gabriel Miller Collection of Arthur Laurents, 1946-2010

ID: 01/01/MSS00092

Primary Creator: Laurents, Arthur (1918-2011)

Extent: 4.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: This collection is arranged into five series: Series 1: Theatre Programs (arranged by production location, then date) Subseries 1: New York City Productions Subseries 2: New Jersey Productions Subseries 3: Greater East Coast and International Productions Subseries 4: Programs for Awards and Honors Series 2: Promotional Materials (arranged chronologically) Subseries 1: Souvenirs and Ephemera Subseries 2: Publications Subseries 3: Flyers and Brochures Subseries 4: Photographs Series 3: Posters and Realia (posters arranged chronologically, realia arranged alphabetically) Series 4: Correspondence (letters arranged alphabetically by correspondent, emails arranged chronologically) Subseries 1: Letters and Notes Subseries 2: Emails to Gabriel Miller Subseries 3: Group emails Series 5: Gabriel Miller Materials (arranged chronologically)

Subjects: Theater

Languages: English

Arthur Laurents (1917-2011) was an American playwright, writer, and screenwriter most known for Gypsy and West Side Story. Laurents grew up in Brooklyn, where his father was a lawyer and his mother was a teacher. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in English, later taking night classes at New York University and selling his first radio play to CBS for $30. After being drafted into the Army in 1941, Laurents wrote for radio dramas, military training programs, and propaganda. He was accused of Communism and blacklisted in the McCarthy Era, as he was active in civil rights issues and had joined a Marxist study group. Among his stage and film productions, Laurents directed Gypsy (1959), I Can Get It For You On Wholesale (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), The Radical Mystique, and Jolson Sings Again. He also wrote the novels The Way We Were (1972) and The Turning Point (1977). In his 2000 memoir, Laurents discusses his homosexuality, and his ashes were buried alongside his long-time partner Tom Hatcher.

Sources

Berkvist, Robert. "Arthur Laurents, Playwright and Director on Broadway, Dies at 93." New York Times. 05 May 2011.

Theater