Beth Henley Biography

Beth Henley, Playwright
Occup.Playwright
FromUSA
BornAugust 8, 1952
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Age72 years
Beth Henley is an acclaimed American playwright as well as film writer, known for her distinctive voice and narration style that is both goofy as well as touching. Henley was born on May 8, 1952, in Jackson, Mississippi, and matured in a family of artists and also pundits.

From a young age, Henley showed an eager rate of interest in composing as well as cinema, as well as she wrote her first play when she was only ten years old. She attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she examined cinema and also playwriting and sharpened her craft. After graduation, she moved to New york city City to go after an occupation in the cinema.

In 1980, Henley's play "Criminal offenses of the Heart" premiered at the Actors Theater of Louisville, Kentucky, and was an instantaneous hit. The play, which fixates 3 siblings managing family troubles and personal crises, won the Pulitzer Reward for Drama in 1981, making Henley the initial woman to win the honor solo given that 1951. The success of "Crimes of the Heart" launched Henley's job as a dramatist, and also she took place to write a number of extra well-known works for the stage, consisting of "The Wake of Jamey Foster", "The Miss Firecracker Competition", and "Abundance".

Along with her work in theater, Henley has actually likewise composed for movie as well as tv, consisting of the screenplay for the 1986 movie adjustment of "Criminal offenses of the Heart", which starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, as well as Sissy Spacek. She has actually additionally composed for preferred television programs like "ER" and "The Leftovers".

Throughout her profession, Henley has gotten numerous awards and honors, consisting of the New York Dramatization Movie Critics' Circle Honor and the Outer Critics Circle Award. She has also been inducted right into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Throughout her job, Henley has actually explored motifs of household, connections, and the search for identification, commonly making use of dark humor as well as eccentric personalities to make her factors. Her writing is understood for its beauty and also quirkiness, in addition to its psychological depth and also understanding right into the human experience. Today, she continues to compose as well as inspire new generations of musicians with her special voice and also ability.

Our collection contains 26 quotes who is written / told by Beth.

Related authors: Sissy Spacek (Actress), Jessica Lange (Actress)

Beth Henley Famous Works:
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26 Famous quotes by Beth Henley

Small: But heres the thing: what you do as a screenwriter is you sell your copyright. As a novelist, as a poet
"But here's the thing: what you do as a screenwriter is you sell your copyright. As a novelist, as a poet, as a playwright, you maintain your copyright"
Small: My first few plays took place in the South and even The Lucky Spot was in the thirties but in Louisiana
"My first few plays took place in the South and even The Lucky Spot was in the thirties but in Louisiana"
Small: What I loved about the acting class was that you got to think all day long about a person that wasnt yo
"What I loved about the acting class was that you got to think all day long about a person that wasn't you, and figure out why they were sad and what they wanted, what they dreamed"
Small: I just loved being divorced from my own wretchedness
"I just loved being divorced from my own wretchedness"
Small: I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, really in suburbia, so my mother was in community theatre plays
"I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, really in suburbia, so my mother was in community theatre plays"
Small: I did write a couple of original screenplays, but Id rather write plays
"I did write a couple of original screenplays, but I'd rather write plays"
Small: You cant just go in there and open your mouth until the cast and director feel comfortable with you
"You can't just go in there and open your mouth until the cast and director feel comfortable with you"
Small: Then, when I was a senior in high school, I was kind of bereft and she put me in an acting class
"Then, when I was a senior in high school, I was kind of bereft and she put me in an acting class"
Small: Then I went off to Southern Methodist University in Dallas. They had a really wonderful theatre departm
"Then I went off to Southern Methodist University in Dallas. They had a really wonderful theatre department"
Small: The next thing I wrote was in a writing class at night school. It was about a poor woman who worked at
"The next thing I wrote was in a writing class at night school. It was about a poor woman who worked at a dime store and who was all alone for Christmas in Laurel, Mississippi"
Small: The most glorious thing about working in the collaborative art is when you have somebody like Susan Kin
"The most glorious thing about working in the collaborative art is when you have somebody like Susan Kingsley or Kathy Bates who are better than your play"
Small: The impetus behind going to graduate school was a year after graduating from college spent in Dallas wo
"The impetus behind going to graduate school was a year after graduating from college spent in Dallas working at the dog food factory and Bank America and not having met success in my chosen field, which at that point was being an actress"
Small: That was always my inclination, to start on a new play before the other one gets done, because at least
"That was always my inclination, to start on a new play before the other one gets done, because at least you'll have something to go back to if that play gets trashed"
Small: Somehow I got to be one of five or six actors that the directors would use as guinea pigs at this direc
"Somehow I got to be one of five or six actors that the directors would use as guinea pigs at this directing colloquium, where people pay to listen to and watch the directors direct"
Small: Some really good things kind of swing both ways and I like to see people that can swing really, really,
"Some really good things kind of swing both ways and I like to see people that can swing really, really, really sad and horrible and terrible and really, really, really beautiful and funny"
Small: Plays are so much more special if theyve never ever had a production, but I think you can really work o
"Plays are so much more special if they've never ever had a production, but I think you can really work on a play and make it better with each production"
Small: Part of that is that New York has proved to be too much fun for me to live and work I love New York so
"Part of that is that New York has proved to be too much fun for me to live and work; I love New York so much"
Small: My fault now is making my plays too short
"My fault now is making my plays too short"
Small: Its really interesting that whenever you do something that is so out of character, like having an emoti
"It's really interesting that whenever you do something that is so out of character, like having an emotional outburst, that you don't get in trouble"
Small: Its called Sisters of the Winter Madrigal. It was interesting for me to see it done after so many years
"It's called Sisters of the Winter Madrigal. It was interesting for me to see it done after so many years; because I wrote it and I didn't realize what a rage I was in"
Small: It was kind of enlightening to become a playwright
"It was kind of enlightening to become a playwright"
Small: In movement class, you had to lie on the floor and get your alignment in to pass the class
"In movement class, you had to lie on the floor and get your alignment in to pass the class"
Small: Im very into the first production of the show
"I'm very into the first production of the show"
Small: I was just restless with being in school so I went out to Los Angeles
"I was just restless with being in school; so I went out to Los Angeles"
Small: I tried to start a theatre in LA and failed miserably, but I was probably not meant to raise money
"I tried to start a theatre in LA and failed miserably, but I was probably not meant to raise money"
Small: I love writing for the screen
"I love writing for the screen"