Ruth Draper

Ruth Draper

infobox actress


birthdate=birth date|1884|12|2
deathdate=death date and age|1956|12|30|1884|12|2
occupation=Stage actress

Ruth Draper (born December 2 1884, New York City - died December 30 1956, New York, New York) was an American dramatist. She specialized in character-driven monologues and monodrama.

Her best known pieces include "The Italian Lesson", "Three Women and Mr. Clifford", "Doctors and Diets", and "A Church in Italy".

She had many relationships in Italy, in fact, and was a strong opponent of fascism. In this period she was the partner of Lauro De Bosis, a young italian poet and writer who died after flying over Rome for throwing many thousands of leaflets against Mussolini's party.

Her biography is among the other collected by the anglo-italian writer Iris Origo in her work containing also the biographies of Ignazio Silone, Gaetano Salvemini, and Lauro De Bosis ["A Need to Testify" (1984) ] .

Such theatre legends as George Bernard Shaw, Thornton Wilder, John Gielgud, Katharine Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, and Uta Hagen were among those dazzled by her artistry and talent, as were Henry James, Henry Adams, and Edith Wharton.

Draper died in 1956, aged 72, just hours after giving a performance on Broadway.

Family

Her nephew, Paul Draper, was a noted dancer and actor. Her second cousin was the society architect Paul Phipps (father of British actress Joyce Grenfell).

Recordings

Recordings of Draper's monologues, which are still available on compact disc, have influenced many contemporary writers and performers, including Lily Tomlin, Mike Nichols, Julie Harris, Simon Callow, Emma Thompson, Charles Busch, David Mamet, Julia Sweeney and John Lithgow.

Notes

External links

*ibdb|8539
*imdb|1812608
* [http://www.drapermonologues.com/biography.html Biography from drapermonoglogues.com]
* [http://www.drapermonologues.com/legacy.html Legacy from drapermonologues.com]

Further reading

*Young, Jordan R. (1989). "Acting Solo: The Art of One-Person Shows". Beverly Hills: Past Times Publishing Co.
*Catron, Louis E. (2000). "The Power of One: The Solo Play for Playwrights, Actors, and Directors." Portsmouth, N.H: Heinemann.
*Origo, Iris (1984) "A Need of Testify".


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