Ethyl Eichelberger

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Ethyl Eichelberger
Born(1945-07-17)July 17, 1945
Pekin, Illinois, United States
DiedAugust 12, 1990(1990-08-12) (aged 45)
Staten Island, New York, USA

Ethyl Eichelberger (July 17, 1945 – August 12, 1990) was an Obie award-winning American

experimental theater
and writing, and wrote nearly forty plays portraying women such as Jocasta, Medea, Nefertiti, Clytemnestra, and Lucrezia Borgia. He became more widely known as a commercial actor in the 1980s.

Biography

Ethyl Eichelberger was born on July 17, 1945, in

Black-Eyed Susan (actor), who became a close friend. In 1987 he wrote his play Saint Joan for Black-Eyed Susan, following the death of Charles Ludlam.[5]

Eichelberger's plays were performed in almost any space that might pass as a stage in New York City during the height of the East Village performance bar scene of the 1980s. Among the venues at which they were produced are the Pyramid Club, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, and 8 B.C., and later at more established venues such as P.S. 122, Dixon Place, La Mama, the Performing Garage, and Dance Theatre Workshop. Eichelberger also took productions of his plays on tour to such far away places as Australia and Europe.[6]

He often performed solo works in free verse based on the lives of the grandes dames of history, including

eating fire, turning cartwheels, and doing splits and other acrobatic feats.[8]

He became more widely known as a commercial actor in the 1980s, appearing with

Sting in The Threepenny Opera.[2] He also appeared as a cast member of the HBO variety series Encyclopedia
.

On August 12, 1990, he committed suicide by slashing his wrists in his Staten Island home.[7] Only after his suicide did it become widely known that he was diagnosed with AIDS two years prior and had become unable to tolerate the side effects of the medication and the debilitating effects of the disease.[9]

In 2005, P.S. 122 awarded the first Ethyl Eichelberger Award to Taylor Mac.[10]

References

  1. OCLC 37606286
    .
  2. ^
    OCLC 741366103
    .
  3. ^ William Harris, "Ethyl Eichelberger Cartwheels Through History", New York Times, August 7, 1988
  4. ^ Liz Lufkin, "Actor Makes a Name for Himself", S.F. Chronicle, November 10, 1987
  5. ^ Gussow, Mel. "Stage: 2 Eichelberger 'Classics'", The New York Times, August 18, 1987. Accessed September 30, 2013.
  6. ^ Jeffreys, Joe E. (2002). "Eichelberger, Ethyl (1945-1990)" (PDF). glbtq. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Gussow, Mel (Aug 14, 1990). "Ethyl Eichelberger, Performer, 45; Creator of a Gallery of Characters". The New York Times.
  8. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  9. JSTOR 1146101
    .
  10. ^ Simonson, Robert (May 3, 2005). "Taylor Mac First Winner of P.S. 122'S New Ethyl Eichelberger Award". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-03-19.

External links

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