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Whose Life is it Anyway?

 

 
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Whose Life is it Anyway?
 
 
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Whose Life Is It Anyway? is a play by Brian Clark adapted from his 1972 television play
Television movie

A television movie is a feature film that is produced for and originally distributed by a television network....
 of the same title. The play premiered at the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre

The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, London, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
's West End
West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland". Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English language world....
 in 1978 starring Tom Conti
Tom Conti

Tom Conti is a Scotland Academy Award-nominated and Tony Award-winning actor, theatre director, and novelist....
 as Ken.

in a hospital room, the action revolves around Ken Harrison, a sculptor by profession, who was paralysed
Paralysed

Paralysed may refer to:*the state of paralysis, the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups*"Paralysed", a song by Elvis Presley...
 from the neck down (quadriplegia
Quadriplegia

Quadriplegia, also known as tetraplegia, is a symptom in which a human experiences paralysis affecting all four limbs, although not necessarily total paralysis or loss of function....
) in a car accident and is determined to be allowed to die. Clark presented arguments both in favor of and opposing euthanasia
Euthanasia

Euthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Many different forms of euthanasia can be distinguished, including euthanasia and human euthanasia, and within the latter, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia....
 and to what extent government should be allowed to interfere in the life of a private citizen.






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Whose Life Is It Anyway? is a play by Brian Clark adapted from his 1972 television play
Television movie

A television movie is a feature film that is produced for and originally distributed by a television network....
 of the same title. The play premiered at the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre

The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, London, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
's West End
West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland". Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English language world....
 in 1978 starring Tom Conti
Tom Conti

Tom Conti is a Scotland Academy Award-nominated and Tony Award-winning actor, theatre director, and novelist....
 as Ken.

Plot

Set in a hospital room, the action revolves around Ken Harrison, a sculptor by profession, who was paralysed
Paralysed

Paralysed may refer to:*the state of paralysis, the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups*"Paralysed", a song by Elvis Presley...
 from the neck down (quadriplegia
Quadriplegia

Quadriplegia, also known as tetraplegia, is a symptom in which a human experiences paralysis affecting all four limbs, although not necessarily total paralysis or loss of function....
) in a car accident and is determined to be allowed to die. Clark presented arguments both in favor of and opposing euthanasia
Euthanasia

Euthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Many different forms of euthanasia can be distinguished, including euthanasia and human euthanasia, and within the latter, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia....
 and to what extent government should be allowed to interfere in the life of a private citizen. In portraying Ken as a bright, witty, vibrant mind trapped in a useless body, he left the audience conflicted about his desire to end his life.

Productions

After nine previews, the drama, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet is a British television and Stage Theatre director and an occasional writer and actor....
, opened at the Trafalgar Theatre (renamed the Nederlander Theatre
Nederlander Theatre

David T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named....
) in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 on April 17, 1979 and ran for 223 performances. It marked the Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 debut of Conti, who was joined by Jean Marsh
Jean Marsh

Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is a British actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
 and Philip Bosco
Philip Bosco

Philip Michael Bosco is an United States Tony Award- and Daytime Emmy award-winning actor....
. Conti was nominated for a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Award, created in 1955, is an award which recognizes theatres produced on Broadway theatre, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and for legitimate not-for-profit theaters....
 and won the 1979 Tony Award
Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live United States theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City....
 for Best Actor in a Play. Both the play itself and Lindsay-Hogg were nominated as well.

The play, again directed by Lindsay-Hogg, was revived on Broadway, at the Royale Theatre, where it opened on February 24, 1980 after nine previews. A gender reversal found Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore is an United States Actor and comedian, primarily known for her roles in sitcoms and television.Moore is arguably best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a news producer at WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and for her earlier role as L...
 in the lead role, rechristened Claire, and James Naughton
James Naughton

James Naughton is an United States Tony Award-winning theater, film and television actor....
 as her now-male doctor. Josef Sommer
Josef Sommer

Josef Sommer is a Germany-born United States film actor.He was born Maximilian Josef Sommer in Greifswald, Germany and was raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemons Sommer, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina....
 rounded out the principal cast. The play ran for 96 performances. Moore was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actress in a Play and won a special 1980 Tony Award for her performance.

Husband and wife Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence Luckinbill

Laurence Manny Luckinbill is an United States film and television actor. He was graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1956 and The Catholic University of America in 1958....
 and Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Arnaz

Lucie D?sir?e Arnaz is an United States actress. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and is the sister of actor Desi Arnaz, Jr....
 starred in the national tour of the play. The two rotated playing the patient (Ken/Claire) and doctor.

Adaptations

Whose Life Is It Anyway? was adapted from Clark's own television film of the same title directed by Richard Everitt starring Ian McShane
Ian McShane

Ian McShane is a Golden Globe-winning England actor. Although he has starred in a number of films, it is by his television roles that he is generally best known, particularly in the HBO Western drama Deadwood ; and will also appear in the upcoming NBC series Kings ....
.

A film adapted by Reginald Rose
Reginald Rose

Reginald Rose was an United States film and television writer most widely known for his work in the Golden Age of Television.Born in Manhattan, Rose attended Townsend Harris High School and briefly attended City College before serving in the U.S....
 and directed by John Badham
John Badham

John MacDonald Badham is an American film director....
 was released in 1981, starring Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss

'Richard Dreyfuss' is an United States actor, known for starring in a number of films, television and theater roles since the late 1960s. He is probably best known for his roles in Jaws , The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Mr....
, John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes

John Nicholas Cassavetes was an United Statesn actor, screenwriter and film director. He appeared in many Hollywood films, and is considered a pioneer of independent film....
, and Christine Lahti
Christine Lahti

Christine Lahti is an United States Emmy Award- and two-time Golden Globe Award-winning actress and Academy Awards-winning film director....
.

Awards and nominations

Awards
  • 1978 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
Nominations
  • 1979 Tony Award for Best Play


External links