Israel Horovitz
Encyclopedia
Israel Horovitz is an American playwright
and screenwriter
.
Horovitz divides his time between the USA and France, where he often directs French-language productions of his plays. On his 70th birthday, Horovitz was decorated by the French government as Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is the most-produced American playwright in French theatre history.
Among Horovitz's best-known plays are Line
(a revival of which opened in 1974 and is NYC's longest-running play—now in its 38th year of continuous performance at off-off-Broadway
's 13th Street Repertory Theatre), Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, The Primary English Class, The Widow's Blind Date, What Strong Fences Make
, and The Indian Wants the Bronx
, for which he won the Obie Award
for Best Play, and which featured two yet-undiscovered future film stars: John Cazale
and Al Pacino
.
Horovitz is Founding Artistic Director of the Gloucester Stage Company in Gloucester, Massachusetts
, a theatre he created in 1979 and served as its Artistic Director for 28 years. He also founded The New York Playwrights Lab in 1975, and still serves as the NYPL's Artistic Director.
Horovitz had a long-term friendship with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett
and often found in Beckett a thematic and stylistic model and inspiration for his own work.
Horovitz has recently been working with The Byre Theatre
of St Andrews, Scotland.
, starring Al Pacino
, is a largely autobiographical account of a playwright dealing with the stress of having his play produced on Broadway
while trying to raise a large family. Other Horovitz-penned films include the award-winning Sunshine
, co-written with Istvan Szabo
(European Academy Award - Best Screenplay), 3 Weeks After Paradise (which he directed and in which he starred), James Dean
, an award-winning biography of the actor, and The Strawberry Statement
(Prix du Jury, Cannes Film festival, 1970), a movie adapted from a journalistic novel by James Simon Kunen
that deals with the student political unrest of the 1960s.
, the son of Hazel Rose (née Solberg) and Julius Charles Horovitz, a lawyer. He has five children: film producer
Rachael Horovitz
(About Schmidt
) (born 1961), television producer
-director Matthew Horovitz (NBA network) (born 1964), Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys
(born 1966) with Doris Keefe, and twins Hannah and Oliver Horovitz (born 1985) with Gillian Adams
(born 1955), to whom he is currently married.
, The Sony Radio Academy Award (for Man In Snow on BBC-Radio 4), an Award in Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Governor of Massachusetts' Leadership Award, and many others.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Theatre career
An American dramatist, Horovitz has written more than 70 produced plays, many of which have been translated and performed in more than 30 languages worldwide . The 70/70 Horovitz Project was created by NYC Barefoot Theatre Company to celebrate Horovitz's 70th birthday. During the year following March 31, 2009, 70 of Horovitz's plays had productions and/or reading by theatre companies around the globe, including the national theatres of Nigeria, Benin, Greece and Ghana.Horovitz divides his time between the USA and France, where he often directs French-language productions of his plays. On his 70th birthday, Horovitz was decorated by the French government as Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is the most-produced American playwright in French theatre history.
Among Horovitz's best-known plays are Line
Line (play)
Line is a 1967 one-act play by Israel Horovitz, his first play produced. It is an absurdist drama about 5 people waiting in line for an event...
(a revival of which opened in 1974 and is NYC's longest-running play—now in its 38th year of continuous performance at off-off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
's 13th Street Repertory Theatre), Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, The Primary English Class, The Widow's Blind Date, What Strong Fences Make
What Strong Fences Make
-Mission:Horovitz told an interviewer that he wrote What Strong Fences Make because "another voice needed to be heard" in the wake of Caryl Churchill's play Seven Jewish Children, which he argues "offensive, distorted and manipulative"....
, and The Indian Wants the Bronx
The Indian Wants the Bronx
The Indian Wants the Bronx is a one-act play by Israel Horovitz.Gupta, the Indian of the title, has just arrived in New York City from his native country to visit his son and speaks only a few words of English. While waiting for a bus to the Bronx, he is approached by two young punks, Joey and...
, for which he won the Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for Best Play, and which featured two yet-undiscovered future film stars: John Cazale
John Cazale
John Holland Cazale , was an American film and theater actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.From his...
and Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
.
Horovitz is Founding Artistic Director of the Gloucester Stage Company in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
, a theatre he created in 1979 and served as its Artistic Director for 28 years. He also founded The New York Playwrights Lab in 1975, and still serves as the NYPL's Artistic Director.
Horovitz had a long-term friendship with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
and often found in Beckett a thematic and stylistic model and inspiration for his own work.
Horovitz has recently been working with The Byre Theatre
Byre Theatre
The Byre Theatre is a theatre in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. The original Byre Theatre was founded in 1933 by Alexander B Paterson, a local journalist and playwright, with help from a theatre group made up from members of Hope Park Church, St Andrews....
of St Andrews, Scotland.
Film career
His screenplay for the 1982 film Author! Author!Author! Author! (film)
Author! Author! is a 1982 film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Israel Horovitz and is loosely autobiographical. It stars Al Pacino, Dyan Cannon and Tuesday Weld....
, starring Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, is a largely autobiographical account of a playwright dealing with the stress of having his play produced on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
while trying to raise a large family. Other Horovitz-penned films include the award-winning Sunshine
Sunshine (1999 film)
Sunshine is a 1999 historical film written by Israel Horovitz and István Szabó, directed and produced by István Szabó. It follows three generations of a Jewish family during the changes in Hungary from the beginning of the 20th century to the...
, co-written with Istvan Szabo
István Szabó
István Szabó is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director.Szabó is the most internationally famous Hungarian filmmaker since the late 1960s. Working in the tradition of European, auteurist art cinema, he has made films that represent many of the psychological and political...
(European Academy Award - Best Screenplay), 3 Weeks After Paradise (which he directed and in which he starred), James Dean
James Dean (film)
James Dean is a 2001 biographical television film based on the life of the American actor of the same name. James Franco plays James Dean under the direction of Mark Rydell, who chronicles Dean's rise from a struggling actor to an A-list movie star in 1950s Hollywood...
, an award-winning biography of the actor, and The Strawberry Statement
The Strawberry Statement (film)
The Strawberry Statement is a 1970 cult film about the counterculture and student revolts of the 1960s, loosely based on the non-fiction book by James Simon Kunen about the Columbia University protests of 1968.-Cast:* Bruce Davison: Simon...
(Prix du Jury, Cannes Film festival, 1970), a movie adapted from a journalistic novel by James Simon Kunen
James Simon Kunen
James Simon Kunen is an American author, journalist and lawyer. He is best known as the author of The Strawberry Statement, a first-person documentary of the Columbia University protests of 1968.-Biography:...
that deals with the student political unrest of the 1960s.
Family
Horovitz was born in Wakefield, MassachusettsWakefield, Massachusetts
-History:-Geography:The diagram above shows what is to the east, west, north, south, and other directions of the center of Wakefield. Towns with population above 25,000 are in bold italics.-Demographics:-Notable residents:...
, the son of Hazel Rose (née Solberg) and Julius Charles Horovitz, a lawyer. He has five children: film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Rachael Horovitz
Rachael Horovitz
Rachael Horovitz is an American film producer.Horovitz is the daughter of playwright Israel Horovitz and the late painter Doris Keefe as well as a sister of musician Adam Horovitz...
(About Schmidt
About Schmidt
About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado...
) (born 1961), television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
-director Matthew Horovitz (NBA network) (born 1964), Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
(born 1966) with Doris Keefe, and twins Hannah and Oliver Horovitz (born 1985) with Gillian Adams
Gillian Horovitz
Gillian Pamela Horovitz is a retired female long-distance runner from England, who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the women's marathon. Born as Gillian Adams she is married to American screenwriter Israel Horovitz, author of more than 50 produced plays.-Achievements:-References:****...
(born 1955), to whom he is currently married.
Awards
He has won numerous awards for his work, including two Obies, the Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, The Sony Radio Academy Award (for Man In Snow on BBC-Radio 4), an Award in Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Governor of Massachusetts' Leadership Award, and many others.
External links
- Official website
- Israel Horovitz: A Collection of Critical Essays The Influence of Samuel Beckett on Israel Horovitz by Robert Scanlan