- Born
- 14 July 1917Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Died
- 5 May 2011New York City, USA · aged 93
Arthur Laurents
The writer of “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” also helped bring a gay couple’s story to Broadway as a director.
Arthur Laurents was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1917. He began writing for radio before the Second World War. His first Broadway play, “Home of the Brave” (1945), examined antisemitism among American soldiers.
Laurents wrote the books for “West Side Story” (1957) and “Gypsy” (1959), shaping the characters and dramatic structure around their songs. His screenplays included Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” (1948), with its gay subtext, and “The Way We Were” (1973). During the McCarthy era he experienced blacklisting in Hollywood.
He also directed musicals, winning a Tony Award for the original Broadway production of “La Cage aux Folles” in 1984. Its story of a gay couple and their family brought questions of acceptance to a large mainstream audience.
Laurents shared his life with Tom Hatcher from the 1950s until Hatcher’s death in 2006. In “Original Story By” (2000), he wrote candidly about his sexuality, relationships and the pressures of the entertainment industry. His memoir connects the public history of stage and screen with a private life that earlier professional conventions had encouraged him to conceal. Laurents died in 2011.