Maurice Valency

Maurice Valency
Born March 22, 1903
New York City, New York
Died September 28, 1996
New York City
Occupation Playwright, Author, Critic
Nationality United States
Alma mater City College of New York
Columbia University
Spouse Janet Cornell
Information
Notable work(s) adaptations of The Visit,
The Madwoman of Chaillot, Ondine, The Apollo of Bellac
Magnum opus The Flower and the Castle: An Introduction to Modern Drama
Awards New York Drama Critics' Circle best foreign play (3 times)
Tony Award nomination for Best Play in 1959

Maurice Valency (March 22, 1903 – September 28, 1996) was a playwright, author, critic, and popular professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, best known for his award winning adaptations of plays by Jean Giraudoux and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. He wrote several original plays,[1] but is best known for his adaptations of the plays of others. Valency's version of The Madwoman of Chaillot would become the basis of the Jerry Herman musical Dear World on Broadway.

He is also noted for his book The Flower and the Castle: An Introduction to Modern Drama. John Gassner in his review of this book said that Mr. Valency brought to his work "a lifetime of study and experience as well as a viewpoint both Olympian and engaged."[2] Valency also wrote television plays, adaptations of librettos, novels, and academic works on Chekhov, Strindberg, Ibsen and Shaw.

Life

Maurice Valency was educated in New York City, getting a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923 at City College, and at Columbia University getting a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1927 (Valency was a member of the New York bar), and a Ph.D. in 1938.[3] In 1936 he married the artist Janet Cornell; they remained married for 60 years until Valency's death in New York City at the age of 93.[1]

Valency was a professor of comparative literature at Columbia and also taught dramatic literature at Juilliard and at Brooklyn College.[3] He spoke seven languages.[2]

Awards

Works

Adaptations

Original works

Television plays

References

  1. 1 2 Theatre World 1996-1997 by John Willis, page 260
  2. 1 2 New York Times, Maurice Valency 93 theatrical master dies, by Mel Gussow, September 29, 1996
  3. 1 2 3 Columbia University Archives, Maurice Valency papers, 1945-1963
  4. 1 2 3 New York Drama Critics' Circle, Best Foreign Play
  5. ↑ Tony Award for Best Play, 1950s
  6. ↑ The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  7. ↑ Hawthorne, Nathaniel, adapted by Maurice Valency, "Feathertop," in Fifteen American One-Act Plays, Paul Kozelka, ed., New York: Washington Square Press, 1961.

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