Playwright Biography
As described by Fisher, Tony Kushner was born on July 16, 1956 to William and Sylvia Kushner in New York City. Both of his parents, being musicians, encouraged him to participate in art and literature. They also encouraged his interest in politics, which shows in Millennium Approaches with his inclusion of the well known political figure Roy Cohn. When he was young, they moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana where his mother participated in local theatre. It was here that he became transfixed by the emotional connections made to theatre. He participated sometimes in theatre, but feared showing his homosexual side, so he stayed away from it for awhile. He even said “I had decided at a very early age that I would become heterosexual” (Fisher 14).
He went back to New York in 1974 to get his BA in English Literature from Columbia University, graduating in 1978. While he was there he continued to struggle with his homosexuality, even resulting in a late night telephone booth call to his mother telling her he was gay (similar to the scene in Act II Scene VIII of Millennium Approaches). After his parents’ initial disapproval, they accepted him and he was open about it. |
After graduating from Columbia he was accepted into the NYU Tisch School of the Arts for a Master of Fine Arts in directing. For his audition he staged a Brecht play. He read many of Brecht's plays as well as medieval plays while in college (Fischer 15). Throughout the rest of his schooling, he worked as a switchboard operator for United Nations Plaza Hotel while writing plays for his classmates to perform.During this time he also read The Necessity of Art. A Marxist Approach, which influenced his leftist political beliefs and how he used them in theatre (Fischer 6).
Today, Kushner has seen vast amounts of success. He received several awards for Angels in America, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also received a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2012. He continues to write, while living in Manhattan with his husband (Author Biography in Angels in America).
Today, Kushner has seen vast amounts of success. He received several awards for Angels in America, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also received a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2012. He continues to write, while living in Manhattan with his husband (Author Biography in Angels in America).