Photo & Story by Marla LaRue.Hollywood on the Hudson NEWS - Goshen, New York: May 6, 2007:
If you knew that you could have lunch in the same room with Frank D. Gilroy, New York's own "The Subject Was Roses" Pulitzer Prize winning playwright - would you want to be there? - absolutely! - so when I learned that "The Friends of the Moffat Library" (Washingtonvile, NY) was hosting their "First Annual Meet the Authors" luncheon at the Limoncello restaurant (historic Goshen, NY) - and that Frank D. Gilroy was to be the keynote speaker - then I knew I must be there. It was a great honor to meet this wonderful playwright and author (thank you Friends of the Moffat Library).
I am happy to report that Frank D. Gilroy is very much alive, happy, healthy, vibrant, mentally sharp and youthful for his 81 years. I never met him before today and I would describe him as a cheerful, captivating, eloquent, caring, friendly and sincere author with intriguing stories to share. I had many questions to ask him and I only wish that he could have continued speaking on into the evening as this may have been one of his few key note speaking engagements and the rare opportunity to learn about the genius inside this great writer's mind.
What has Frank Gilroy been up to lately?
Frank Gilroy is still an active playwright and a journal of more than forty years of his life will be published later this year. [Note of an interest to film students: on Amazon.com I found a book that Frank wrote on film making: "I Wake Up Screening: Everything You Need to Know About Independant Films Including a Thousand Reasons Not To"].
"When I won the Pulitzer Prize, I got a check for $500 and a wall plaque," said Frank modestly, as he told what it was like to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1965 for "The Subject Was Roses", his first Broadway play which in 1968 was also adapted into a film starring Patricia Neal and Jack Albertson. This same play also won the Critics Circle Award and a 'Best Play of 1965 Tony Award'.
What Inspires Frank D. Gilroy and his plays?
Frank Gilroy was in General Patton's Third Army during World War II (his one act play "Getting In" 1957 tells this story. [reference: Frank D. Gilroy Vol II: 15 One-Act Plays]).
Frank shared that he often writes drawing from some of his own experiences and would often get ideas for his plays from family dinner conversations.
If you might be wondering where this brilliant prize winning playwright author was educated then you won't be surprised to learn that Frank was a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Dartmouth College and the Yale School of Drama. When I asked Frank Gilroy if he writes his plays with the idea that it could be made into a film - his reply was "no, I haven't ever done that". When asked which writers perhaps inspired him, Frank mentioned that he admired great playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill and Thomas Lanier Williams III (aka Tennessee Williams). Frank had a career as a writer for television in the 1950s, writing for Kraft Theater, Playhouse 90 and Studio One.
What Frank D. Gilroy works are Hollywood on the Hudson history?
Frank told me that 2 of his plays were filmed in New York: "The Gig" (1985) and "The Luckiest Man In The World" (1989). I am told that he had his directing debut with the Manhatten filmed movie "Desperate Characters" (1971). I wish you continued success Frank and I'll be watching for your new book when it's published.
[posted by Marla LaRue, Hollywood on the Hudson, editor]
