A. R. Gurney
| Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 1, 1930 Buffalo, New York |
| Occupation | Playwright, novelist, screenwriter |
| Education |
Nichols School St. Paul's School (1948) |
| Alma mater |
Williams College (1952) Yale School of Drama (1958) |
| Genre | Theatre |
| Spouse | Mary Forman Goodyear |
| Children | 4 |
Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr (born November 1, 1930), sometimes credited as Pete Gurney, is an American playwright, novelist and academic. He is known for works including The Dining Room (1982), Sweet Sue (1986/7), Love Letters (1988), and The Cocktail Hour (1988). His series of plays about upper-class WASP life in contemporary America have been called "penetratingly witty studies of the WASP ascendancy in retreat."
Gurney was born on November 1, 1930 in Buffalo, New York to Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Sr. (1896-1977), who was president of Gurney, Becker and Bourne, an insurance and real estate company in Buffalo, and Marion Spaulding (1908-2001). His parents had three children, of which Gurney was the middle: (1) Evelyn Gurney (b. 1929), who married Miller. (2) Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Jr. (b. 1930), and (3) Stephen S. Gurney (b. 1933)
Gurney attended the Nichols School in Buffalo and graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He attended Williams College, graduating in 1952, and the Yale School of Drama, graduating in 1958, after which he began teaching Humanities at MIT.
His maternal grandparents were Elbridge G. Spaulding (1881-1974) and Marion Caryl Ely (1887-1971). Ely was the daughter of William Caryl Ely (1856-1921), a lawyer and Member of the New York State Assembly in 1883. Gurney's 2x great-grandfather was Elbridge G. Spaulding (1809-1897), a former Mayor of Buffalo, NY State Treasurer, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives who supported the idea for the first U.S. currency not backed by gold or silver, thus credited with helping to keep the Union economy afloat during the Civil War.
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