Tony Kushner
About
Biography
Biography
Acclaimed as one of the most celebrated playwrights of his generation, Tony Kushner was best known as the writer of "Angels in America," a play about a number of characters grappling with the AIDS crisis during the Reagan era. Born in New York in 1956 but raised in Louisiana, Kushner attended Columbia University and later earned his MFA from Tisch School for the Arts. He staged his first play, "The Age of Assassins," at New York's Newfoundland Theatre in 1982 and quickly became a successful and prolific presence in the New York theater scene. He garnered praise after producing his play, "A Bright Room Called Day," at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, though the play became much better known after it was produced at New York's Joseph Papp Public Theater in 1991. That same year, Kushner saw part one of "Angels in America" produced at the Eureka Theatre Company of San Francisco. This was quickly followed by a production in London. After unveiling part two of the play, "Perestroika," in a similar fashion, the entirety of the two-part play debuted on Broadway in 1993. An epic and often metaphoric work, "Angels in America" earned Kushner massive praise-as well as a Pulitzer. The following year, he staged the play "Slavs!: Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness," on Broadway. He would continue to write successful plays over the coming years, eventually branching into screenwriting in 2003, when he adapted "Angels in America" into a landmark HBO miniseries. Kushner would go on to pen the screenplays for the period film "Munich" (2005) and the biopic "Lincoln" (2012).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Writer (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1974
Moved back to NYC to attend Columbia University
1979
Worked as a switchboard operator at the United Nations Plaza Hotel
1982
Staged his first play, "The Age of Assassins," at New York's Newfoundland Theatre.
1985
First professional production as a playwright, "Yes Yes No No: The Solace-of-Solstice, Apogee/Perigee, Bestial/Celestial Holiday Show" at the Imaginary Theatre Company in St. Louis, MO
1987
Play "A Bright Room Called Day" premiered in San Francisco, CA
1987
Wrote "Hydriotaphia, or The Death of Dr. Browne"; remained unstaged until 1998 when it was co-produced by the Alley Theatre in Texas and the Berkeley Repertory Company in California
1987
Adapted "Stella," from the play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; produced in New York City
1989
Adapted Corneille's "The Illusion" for the stage; produced in NYC and at Hartford Stage in 1990
1991
Collaborated with Ariel Dorfman on adapting Dorfman's play "Widows" for American audiences; produced in Los Angeles, CA
1991
Penned the play "A Bright Room Called Day," which was staged at NYC's Public Theatre
1992
Breakthrough stage work, the award-winning "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes"; first staged at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco
1993
Debuted "Angels in America" on Broadway; aired in two parts, "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika"
1994
Adapted Brecht's "Good Person of Setzuan" from Wendy Arons' translation; produced at La Jolla Playhouse
1994
Penned "Slavs! Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness" for the New York Theatre Workshop
1995
Penned adaptation of "The Dybbuk"; produced at Hartford Stage; also produced at NYC's Public Theatre in 1997
1997
Asked by actress Kika Markham to create a monologue for her, which became "Homebody"
1998
Contributed one-act play to the omnibus evening "Love's Fire"; produced at NYC's Public Theatre
1999
Provided commentary for Ric Burns' epic "New York" (PBS)
2001
Premiered "Homebody/Kabul" at New York Theatre Workshop
2002
Directed "Helen" at the Public Theatre
2002
Adapted his play "Angels in America" into HBO miniseries directed by Mike Nichols
2005
Penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's "Munich," which centered on aftermath of tragic massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at 1972 Munich Olympic Games; earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Screenplay
2006
Subject of Freida Lee Mock's documentary feature "Wrestling With Angels"; debuted at the Sundance Film Festival
2006
Penned a new translation of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children"; performed at the Delacorte Theater and starred Meryl Streep
2009
Wrote "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures" for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis
2012
Re-teamed with director Steven Spielberg to write screenplay for "Lincoln"
2018
Began penning a movie adaptation of "West Side Story."
Family
