fbpx
Wikipedia

Hugh Leonard

January 25, 2023

Hugh Leonard (9 November 1926 – 12 February 2009) was an Irish dramatist, television writer, and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essay, two autobiographies, three novels, numerous screenplays and teleplays, and a regular newspaper column.

Hugh Leonard
Leonard c. 2004
BornJohn Joseph Byrne
9 November 1926
Dublin, Ireland
Died12 February 2009 (aged 82)
Dalkey, Ireland
OccupationWriter
Notable worksThe Au Pair Man
Da
A Life
SpousePaule Byrne (d. 2000)
Katharine Hayes
ChildrenDanielle Byrne
Website
hughleonardplaywright.com

Life and career

Leonard was born in Dublin as John Joseph Byrne, but was put up for adoption. Raised in Dalkey, a suburb of Dublin, by Nicholas and Margaret Keyes, he changed his name to John Keyes Byrne.[1][2] For the rest of his life, despite the pen name of "Hugh Leonard", which he later adopted and by which became well known, he invited close friends to call him "Jack".[3]

Leonard was educated at the Harold Boys' National School, Dalkey, and Presentation College, Glasthule, winning a scholarship to the latter.[1][4] He worked as a civil servant for 14 years. During that time, he both acted in and wrote plays for community theatre groups.[1][2][4] His first play to be professionally produced was The Big Birthday, which was mounted by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1956. His career with the Abbey Theatre[5] continued until 1994. After that, his plays were produced regularly by Dublin's theatres.[2]

He moved to Manchester for a while, working for Granada Television, before returning to Ireland in 1970, settling in Dalkey.[1]

During the 1960s and 1970s, Leonard was the first major Irish writer to establish a reputation in television[6] writing extensively for television, including original plays, comedies, thrillers, and adaptations of classic novels for British television. He was commissioned by RTÉ to write Insurrection, a 50th-anniversary dramatic reconstruction of the Irish uprising of Easter 1916.[7] Leonard's Silent Song, adapted for the BBC from a short story by Frank O'Connor, won the Prix Italia in 1967.[8] He wrote the script for the RTÉ adaptation of Strumpet City by James Plunkett.[7]

Three of Leonard's plays have been presented on Broadway: The Au Pair Man (1973), which starred Charles Durning and Julie Harris; Da (1978); and A Life (1980).[9] Of these, Da – which premiered[10] at the Olney Theatre in 1973 before being produced off-off-Broadway at the Hudson Guild Theatre and then transferring to the Morosco Theatre – was the most successful, running for 20 months and 697 performances, then touring the United States for 10 months.[11] It earned Leonard both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Best Play.[12] It was made into a film in 1988, starring Martin Sheen and Barnard Hughes, who reprised his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance.[13]

In 1984, Leonard discovered his accountant Russell Murphy had embezzled IR£258,000 from him.[1][4] Leonard was particularly upset that Murphy had used his money to take clients to the theatre and purchased expensive seats at some of Leonard's plays.[4]

Leonard wrote two volumes of autobiography, Home Before Night (1979) and Out After Dark (1989).[1] Some of his essays and journalism were collected in Leonard's Last Book (1978) and A Peculiar People and Other Foibles (1979). In 1992 the Selected Plays of Hugh Leonard was published. Until 2006 he wrote a humorous weekly column, "The Curmudgeon", for the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper. He had a passion for cats and restaurants, and an abhorrence of broadcaster Gay Byrne.[14]

In 1994, Leonard gave a review of Katie Roche[15]' by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy which was performed in the Peacock Theatre, and he recalls his own acting role in an undated amateur production of 'Temporal Powers' which Teresa Deevy attended.

Even after retiring as a Sunday Independent columnist, Leonard displayed an acerbic humour. In an interview with Brendan O'Connor, he was asked if it galled him that Gay Byrne was now writing his old column. His reply was, "It would gall me more if he was any good at it."[14] Leonard was a patron of the Dublin Theatre Festival.

In 1994, Leonard appeared in a televised interview with Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, an Irish political party associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army.[16] Leonard had long been an opponent of paramilitary groups and a critic of the IRA.[1] However, on the show and afterwards he was criticised for being "sanctimonious and theatrical" towards Adams; at one point he referred to Sinn Féin as "dogs".[17][18][19]

Hugh Leonard- Odd Man In, a film on his life and work, shown on RTÉ in March 2009. Leonard's final play, Magicality, was not performed during his lifetime; a rehearsed reading of the second act was staged at the Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre in June 2012.[20]

Leonard died in his hometown, Dalkey, aged 82, after a long illness,[21] leaving €1.5 million in his will.[22]

Awards

  • Writers Guild of Great Britain – Award of Merit for Silent Song, 1966
  • Prix Italia for original dramatic television programs – for Silent Song 1967
  • Jacob's Television Award for adaptations of Wuthering Heights and Nicholas Nickleby, 1969
  • Antoinette Perry Award (Tony) nomination for best play – The Au Pair Man, 1973/74
  • Antoinette Perry Award (Tony) award for best play – Da, 1977/78
  • Drama Desk Award for outstanding new play – Da, 1977/78
  • New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best play – Da, 1977/78
  • Outer Critics Circle Award for the Most Outstanding Play of the New York Season – Da, 1977/78
  • Harvey's Irish Theatre Award for A Life – best new play, 1979/80
  • Rhode Island College – honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, 1980
  • University of Dublin – honorary Doctorate of Letters, 1988
  • Society of Authors Sagittarius Prize – novel for Parnell and the Englishwoman, 1992
  • The Abbey Theatre Award, 1999

Source:[23]

Works

Reviews

  • Those crazy cat days in their cradle (1994)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Playwright with full mastery of his craft", The Irish Times, obituary section, 14 February 2009, retrieved 16 February 2009
  2. ^ a b c Weber, Bruce "Hugh Leonard, 82, Dies; Wrote Broadway’s ‘Da’" New York Times (12 February 2009)
  3. ^ "Hugie Leonard" was the name of a character in an early play that was turned down by the Abbey Theatre, and Leonard used it on the submission of his next play as a ruse. Weber, Bruce "Hugh Leonard, 82, Dies; Wrote Broadway’s ‘Da’", New York Times (12 February 2009)
  4. ^ a b c d "Hugh Leonard". The Daily Telegraph. London. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  5. ^ "The Abbey Theatre Archive".
  6. ^ Fintan, O'Toole (13 February 2009). Irish Times. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ a b Death of Hugh Leonard announced, RTÉ News, 12 February 2009, retrieved 12 February 2009
  8. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  9. ^ Hugh Leonard at the Internet Broadway Database
  10. ^ Coe, Richard (9 August 1973). "'Da': World Premiere". The Washington Post. ProQuest 148357040. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Da". IBDB.com. Internet Broadway Database.
  12. ^ IBDB Da:Awards
  13. ^ Da at IMDb
  14. ^ a b Sunday Independent, "Portrait of the legendary artist as an 80-year-old", 12 November 2006
  15. ^ "The Teresa Deevy Archive".[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//UTV/1994/10/28/UTV19941028005/?s=rte Gerry Adams on the Late Late Show With Gay Byrne
  17. ^ Video on YouTube
  18. ^ Video on YouTube
  19. ^ Video on YouTube
  20. ^ 98FM [1] retrieved 24 November 2012
  21. ^ "Irish dramatist Hugh Leonard dies". BBC News. 12 February 2009.
  22. ^ Collins, Liam (11 October 2009). "Playwright Hugh Leonard leaves €1.5m estate". Irish Independent.
  23. ^ "Awards and honorary degrees of Hugh Leonard". 16 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  24. ^ Playography Ireland entry for Hugh Leonard [2], retrieved 11 November 2012
  25. ^ The Agency (London) Ltd Client List 3 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ Filmed as Broth of a Boy (1959)
  27. ^ An adaptation of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Stephen Hero, by James Joyce
  28. ^ An adaptation of The Dalkey Archive by Flann O'Brien
  29. ^ A Wild People and Fillums published by Methuen
  30. ^ "Prose work of Hugh Leonard". 13 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  31. ^ IMDb entry for Hugh Leonard
  32. ^ RTE statement on death of Hugh Leonard, retrieved 6 January 2013

External links

January 25, 2023
hugh, leonard, november, 1926, february, 2009, irish, dramatist, television, writer, essayist, career, that, spanned, years, leonard, wrote, nearly, full, length, plays, plays, three, volumes, essay, autobiographies, three, novels, numerous, screenplays, telep. Hugh Leonard 9 November 1926 12 February 2009 was an Irish dramatist television writer and essayist In a career that spanned 50 years Leonard wrote nearly 30 full length plays 10 one act plays three volumes of essay two autobiographies three novels numerous screenplays and teleplays and a regular newspaper column Hugh LeonardLeonard c 2004BornJohn Joseph Byrne9 November 1926Dublin IrelandDied12 February 2009 aged 82 Dalkey IrelandOccupationWriterNotable worksThe Au Pair ManDaA LifeSpousePaule Byrne d 2000 Katharine HayesChildrenDanielle ByrneWebsitehughleonardplaywright wbr com Contents 1 Life and career 2 Awards 3 Works 4 Reviews 5 References 6 External linksLife and career EditLeonard was born in Dublin as John Joseph Byrne but was put up for adoption Raised in Dalkey a suburb of Dublin by Nicholas and Margaret Keyes he changed his name to John Keyes Byrne 1 2 For the rest of his life despite the pen name of Hugh Leonard which he later adopted and by which became well known he invited close friends to call him Jack 3 Leonard was educated at the Harold Boys National School Dalkey and Presentation College Glasthule winning a scholarship to the latter 1 4 He worked as a civil servant for 14 years During that time he both acted in and wrote plays for community theatre groups 1 2 4 His first play to be professionally produced was The Big Birthday which was mounted by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1956 His career with the Abbey Theatre 5 continued until 1994 After that his plays were produced regularly by Dublin s theatres 2 He moved to Manchester for a while working for Granada Television before returning to Ireland in 1970 settling in Dalkey 1 During the 1960s and 1970s Leonard was the first major Irish writer to establish a reputation in television 6 writing extensively for television including original plays comedies thrillers and adaptations of classic novels for British television He was commissioned by RTE to write Insurrection a 50th anniversary dramatic reconstruction of the Irish uprising of Easter 1916 7 Leonard s Silent Song adapted for the BBC from a short story by Frank O Connor won the Prix Italia in 1967 8 He wrote the script for the RTE adaptation of Strumpet City by James Plunkett 7 Three of Leonard s plays have been presented on Broadway The Au Pair Man 1973 which starred Charles Durning and Julie Harris Da 1978 and A Life 1980 9 Of these Da which premiered 10 at the Olney Theatre in 1973 before being produced off off Broadway at the Hudson Guild Theatre and then transferring to the Morosco Theatre was the most successful running for 20 months and 697 performances then touring the United States for 10 months 11 It earned Leonard both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Best Play 12 It was made into a film in 1988 starring Martin Sheen and Barnard Hughes who reprised his Tony Award winning Broadway performance 13 In 1984 Leonard discovered his accountant Russell Murphy had embezzled IR 258 000 from him 1 4 Leonard was particularly upset that Murphy had used his money to take clients to the theatre and purchased expensive seats at some of Leonard s plays 4 Leonard wrote two volumes of autobiography Home Before Night 1979 and Out After Dark 1989 1 Some of his essays and journalism were collected in Leonard s Last Book 1978 and A Peculiar People and Other Foibles 1979 In 1992 the Selected Plays of Hugh Leonard was published Until 2006 he wrote a humorous weekly column The Curmudgeon for the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper He had a passion for cats and restaurants and an abhorrence of broadcaster Gay Byrne 14 In 1994 Leonard gave a review of Katie Roche 15 by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy which was performed in the Peacock Theatre and he recalls his own acting role in an undated amateur production of Temporal Powers which Teresa Deevy attended Even after retiring as a Sunday Independent columnist Leonard displayed an acerbic humour In an interview with Brendan O Connor he was asked if it galled him that Gay Byrne was now writing his old column His reply was It would gall me more if he was any good at it 14 Leonard was a patron of the Dublin Theatre Festival In 1994 Leonard appeared in a televised interview with Gerry Adams president of Sinn Fein an Irish political party associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army 16 Leonard had long been an opponent of paramilitary groups and a critic of the IRA 1 However on the show and afterwards he was criticised for being sanctimonious and theatrical towards Adams at one point he referred to Sinn Fein as dogs 17 18 19 Hugh Leonard Odd Man In a film on his life and work shown on RTE in March 2009 Leonard s final play Magicality was not performed during his lifetime a rehearsed reading of the second act was staged at the Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre in June 2012 20 Leonard died in his hometown Dalkey aged 82 after a long illness 21 leaving 1 5 million in his will 22 Awards EditWriters Guild of Great Britain Award of Merit for Silent Song 1966 Prix Italia for original dramatic television programs for Silent Song 1967 Jacob s Television Award for adaptations of Wuthering Heights and Nicholas Nickleby 1969 Antoinette Perry Award Tony nomination for best play The Au Pair Man 1973 74 Antoinette Perry Award Tony award for best play Da 1977 78 Drama Desk Award for outstanding new play Da 1977 78 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best play Da 1977 78 Outer Critics Circle Award for the Most Outstanding Play of the New York Season Da 1977 78 Harvey s Irish Theatre Award for A Life best new play 1979 80 Rhode Island College honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 1980 University of Dublin honorary Doctorate of Letters 1988 Society of Authors Sagittarius Prize novel for Parnell and the Englishwoman 1992 The Abbey Theatre Award 1999Source 23 Works EditPlays 24 25 The Italian Road 1954 The Big Birthday 1956 26 A Leap in the Dark 1957 Madigan s Lock 1958 A Walk on the Water 1960 The Passion of Peter Ginty 1961 Stephen D 27 1962 Dublin One 1963 The Poker Session 1964 The Family Way 1964 The Saints Go Cycling In 28 1965 Mick and Mick 1966 The Quick and the Dead two one act plays 1967 The Late Arrival of the Incoming Aircraft The Dead The Au Pair Man 1968 The Barracks 1969 The Patrick Pearse Motel 1971 Da 1973 Summer play 1974 Suburb of Babylon three one act plays 1983 A Time of Wolves and Tigers Nothing Personal The Last of the Last of the Mohicans Time Was 1976 Some of My Best Friends Are Husbands 1976 Liam Liar 1976 A Life play 1979 Kill 1982 The Mask of Moriarty 1985 Pizazz three one act plays 1986 A View from the Obelisk Roman Fever Pizazz Moving play 1992 Chamber Music two one act plays 1994 Senna for Sonny The Lily Lally Show Great Expectations 1995 A Tale of Two Cities 1996 Love in the Title 1999 Magicality Novels 29 Parnell and the Englishwoman 1992 A Wild People 2001 Fillums 2004 Essays 30 Leonard s Last Book 1978 A Peculiar People and Other Foibles 1979 Leonard s Year 1985 Leonard s Log 1987 Leonard s Log Again 1988 Rover and Other Cats 1992 Dear Paule 2000 Autobiography Home Before Night 1979 Out After Dark 1989 Film screenplays 31 Interlude 1968 Great Catherine 1968 Percy 1971 Our Miss Fred 1972 Da 1988 Widows Peak 1994 Radio plays 32 You and the Night and the Wireless 2001 Mogs 2006 The Broadway production ofDa 1978 starred Barnard Hughes foreground and Brian MurrayReviews EditThose crazy cat days in their cradle 1994 Television plays ITV Television Playhouse A Walk on the Water 1961 Armchair Theatre The Irish Boys 1962 A Kind of Kingdom 1963 I Loved You Last Summer 1965 The Big Blonde 1966 Love Life 1967 The Virgins 1974 ITV Play of the Week A Leap in the Dark 1960 Misalliance adaptation 1962 The Rose Tattoo adaptation 1964 Camino Real adaptation 1964 Come Back Little Sheba adaptation 1965 First Night My One True Love 1964 The Second Wall 1964 Love Story The Last of the English Visitors 1964 Toccato for Toy Trumpet 1965 The Egg on the Face of the Tiger 1968 Thirty Minute Theatre The Late Arrival of the Incoming Aircraft 1965 A Time of Wolves and Tigers 1967 The Wednesday Play Silent Song 1966 The Retreat 1966 Insurrection 1966 Half Hour Story Do You Play Requests 1968 A View from the Obelisk 1968 Comedy Playhouse Me Mammy 1968 ITV Saturday Night Theatre The Dead adaptation 1971 Pandora 1971 Play of the Month Stephen D adaptation 1972 Episodic television Saki 8 episodes adaptations 1962 The Verdict is Yours 1 episode 1963 Maupassant 10 episodes adaptations 1963 Jezebel ex UK 1 episode 1963 The Hidden Truth 2 episode2 1964 Blackmail 1 episode 1965 Undermind 1 episode 1965 Thirteen Against Fate 1 episode 1966 Public Eye 2 episodes 1966 The Informer 2 episodes 1966 Out of the Unknown 2 episodes 1966 Great Expectations 10 episodes adaptations 1967 Wuthering Heights 4 episodes adaptations 1967 Liebesgeschichten 1 episode 1967 The Ronnie Barker Playhouse 1 episode 1968 Nicholas Nickleby 13 episodes adaptations 1968 Late Night Horror 1 episode 1968 Sherlock Holmes 3 episodes 1968 The Jazz Age 1 episode adaptation 1968 Detective 2 episodes 1968 1969 The Possessed 6 episodes adaptations 1969 Dombey and Son 13 episodes adaptations 1969 W Somerset Maugham 2 episodes adaptations 1969 1970 Me Mammy 3 series 21 episodes 1969 1971 Sentimental Education 3 episodes adaptations 1970 Shadows of Fear 1 episode 1971 Six Dates with Barker 1 episode 1971 The Moonstone 5 episodes 1972 Tales from the Lazy Acre 7 episodes 1972 Country Matters 4 episodes adaptations 1972 1973 Seven of One 1 episode 1973 Black and Blue 1 episode 1973 Father Brown 6 episodes adaptations 1974 Nicholas Nickleby 6 episodes 1977 London Belongs to Me 7 episodes 1977 Wuthering Heights 2 episodes 1978 Strumpet City adaptation 1980 The Little World of Don Camillo 12 episodes 1981 Good Behaviour adaptation 1983 Storyboard 1 episode 1989 Parnell amp the Englishwoman 1991 TV mini series Alleyn Mysteries 1 episode 1993 References Edit a b c d e f g Playwright with full mastery of his craft The Irish Times obituary section 14 February 2009 retrieved 16 February 2009 a b c Weber Bruce Hugh Leonard 82 Dies Wrote Broadway s Da New York Times 12 February 2009 Hugie Leonard was the name of a character in an early play that was turned down by the Abbey Theatre and Leonard used it on the submission of his next play as a ruse Weber Bruce Hugh Leonard 82 Dies Wrote Broadway s Da New York Times 12 February 2009 a b c d Hugh Leonard The Daily Telegraph London 12 February 2009 Retrieved 16 February 2009 The Abbey Theatre Archive Fintan O Toole 13 February 2009 Irish Times a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a Missing or empty title help a b Death of Hugh Leonard announced RTE News 12 February 2009 retrieved 12 February 2009 Prix Italia Winners PDF Archived from the original PDF on 22 October 2013 Retrieved 21 January 2013 Hugh Leonard at the Internet Broadway Database Coe Richard 9 August 1973 Da World Premiere The Washington Post ProQuest 148357040 Retrieved 4 January 2021 Da IBDB com Internet Broadway Database IBDB Da Awards Da at IMDb a b Sunday Independent Portrait of the legendary artist as an 80 year old 12 November 2006 The Teresa Deevy Archive permanent dead link http www itnsource com shotlist UTV 1994 10 28 UTV19941028005 s rte Gerry Adams on the Late Late Show With Gay Byrne Video on YouTube Video on YouTube Video on YouTube 98FM 1 retrieved 24 November 2012 Irish dramatist Hugh Leonard dies BBC News 12 February 2009 Collins Liam 11 October 2009 Playwright Hugh Leonard leaves 1 5m estate Irish Independent Awards and honorary degrees of Hugh Leonard 16 February 2013 Retrieved 17 March 2013 Playography Ireland entry for Hugh Leonard 2 retrieved 11 November 2012 The Agency London Ltd Client List Archived 3 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Filmed as Broth of a Boy 1959 An adaptation of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Stephen Hero by James Joyce An adaptation of The Dalkey Archive by Flann O Brien A Wild People and Fillums published by Methuen Prose work of Hugh Leonard 13 February 2014 Retrieved 13 February 2014 IMDb entry for Hugh Leonard RTE statement on death of Hugh Leonard retrieved 6 January 2013External links EditHugh Leonard at Irish Writers Online Hugh Leonard at Irish Playography Hugh Leonard at the Internet Broadway Database Hugh Leonard at IMDb Hugh Leonard at the Teresa Deevy Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hugh Leonard amp oldid 1093124357, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.