Mark Medoff, the prolific playwright and educator best known for his 1979 play “Children of a Lesser God,” died Tuesday of undisclosed causes. He was 79.
His death was announced on Facebook by his daughter, Jessica Medoff Bunchman. The Las Cruces Sun News reported that he was battling cancer at the time of his death.
“It’s heartbreaking to see him move on from this place, but so heartwarming to remember the enormous love he gave,” Medoff Bunchman wrote Tuesday.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2019 (Photos)
Born in 1940 in Illinois and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, Medoff studied at the University of Miami and Stanford, beginning his career in theater in 1966 with his first play, “The Wager.”
He wrote prolifically over the next decade, but his breakthrough came with “Children of a Lesser God.” The play, which follows the complicated relationship between a deaf woman and her former teacher, was a critical and popular success,...
His death was announced on Facebook by his daughter, Jessica Medoff Bunchman. The Las Cruces Sun News reported that he was battling cancer at the time of his death.
“It’s heartbreaking to see him move on from this place, but so heartwarming to remember the enormous love he gave,” Medoff Bunchman wrote Tuesday.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2019 (Photos)
Born in 1940 in Illinois and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, Medoff studied at the University of Miami and Stanford, beginning his career in theater in 1966 with his first play, “The Wager.”
He wrote prolifically over the next decade, but his breakthrough came with “Children of a Lesser God.” The play, which follows the complicated relationship between a deaf woman and her former teacher, was a critical and popular success,...
- 4/25/2019
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Mark Medoff, the playwright who wrote Tony Award-winning play “Children of a Lesser God,” died Tuesday in Las Cruces, N.M. He was 79.
His daughter Jessica Medoff Bunchman posted news of his death on Facebook, and the Las Cruces Sun-News attributed the cause to cancer.
“Children of a Lesser God” starred John Rubinstein and Phyllis Frelich in the original 1980 Broadway production, though the play was first staged at New Mexico State and then in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum. The pair played a deaf woman and a speech therapist at a state school for the deaf who try to build a relationship despite difficulties in understanding each other’s perspectives.
Medoff, who wrote more than 30 plays, crafted “Children of a Lesser God” after speaking with the deaf Frelich, who explained the lack of substantive roles for deaf actors on stage. She and her husband, Robert Steinberg, advised Medoff...
His daughter Jessica Medoff Bunchman posted news of his death on Facebook, and the Las Cruces Sun-News attributed the cause to cancer.
“Children of a Lesser God” starred John Rubinstein and Phyllis Frelich in the original 1980 Broadway production, though the play was first staged at New Mexico State and then in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum. The pair played a deaf woman and a speech therapist at a state school for the deaf who try to build a relationship despite difficulties in understanding each other’s perspectives.
Medoff, who wrote more than 30 plays, crafted “Children of a Lesser God” after speaking with the deaf Frelich, who explained the lack of substantive roles for deaf actors on stage. She and her husband, Robert Steinberg, advised Medoff...
- 4/25/2019
- by Erin Nyren
- Variety Film + TV
''Grand Isle'' is a gentle, forthright film about a 19th century woman's self-awakening. A fine selection as the opening night film at this past weekend's Festival of Women Directors held at the AFI, ''Grand Isle'' is a luminously delicate story that should transcend gender barriers, touching all those who can identify with the overpowering need for personal expression and identity.
Set amid the seascaped swirls of Creole society, circa late 19th century, ''Grand Isle'' is an entrancing tapestry of cross-cultural waves and Southern currents. Set on the wind-soothed Louisiana resort of Grand Isle, the story centers on Edna (Kelly McGillis), a 28-year-old mother of two whose marriage to a wealthy older broker (Joe DeVries) affords her no outlet other than familial task-etry.
A playful, Grand Isle friendship with a younger Creole gentleman Robert (Adrian Pasdar) stimulates long lost urges in her -- sexual and artistic pangs that she has not, seemingly, experienced since her dreamy youth. She takes to etching, partially, it seems, as a sublimation for her obvious sexual attraction to Robert, partially, because, she once dreamed of being an artist.
But her somewhat smug bubble of artistic self-expression is smartly punctured by an eccentric, and thoroughly independent pianist, Mademoiselle Reisz (Ellen Burstyn) who, while admiring her audacity in spreading her wings, also discredits her conceit that she possesses the soul and the ''gifts'' to be an artist.
Indeed, this hard challenge from such a liberated spirit is what lifts screenwriter Hesper Anderson's adaptation of Kate Chopin's novel ''The Awakening'' beyond the singular dimension of feminist dogma to a grander story of personal growth and individuality.
Undeniably, there is a discernible editorial slant to this story: throughout, Edna's family life is portrayed as offering not one iota of emotional sustenance to her. In this stacked-story deck, husband Leonce is a merely a one-dimensional burgher while her two children are merely underfoot on the porch. As such, her choice to sacrifice her family life to her ''art'' and love for Robert is diminished by the fact that this difficult decision is way too easy, merely a black-and-white issue here.
Under director Mary Lambert's strong hand, Edna's personal turmoils and triumphs waft together in a swirling succession of conflicting emotions and challenges. Using the soft but explosive colors of Grand Isle's seascape as textural punctuation, Lambert fuses Edna's surging emotional states to the ebb-and-flow of nature's tides.
While ''Grand Isle's'' narrative is transparently blunt, the film is, nevertheless, awash with tonal nuance: cinematographer Toyomichi Kurita's radiant, late-afternoon hues are in sync with Edna's personal timetable, while Elliot Goldenthal's orginal music and savvy score selection, primarily Chopin's Nocture in E minor, lend a melancholy but strong cadence to Edna's resolve.
GRAND ISLE
Turner Pictures
Producers Kelly McGillis, Carolyn Pfeiffer
Director Mary Lambert
Screenwriter Hesper Anderson
Based on the novel ''The Awakening'' by Kate Chopin
Director of photography Toyomichi Kurita
Costume designer Martin Pakeldinaz
Production designer Michelle Minch
Original music and adaptation Elliot Goldenthal
Editor Tom Finan
Casting Fern Champion
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Edna Pontellier Kelly McGillis
Leonce Pontellier Jon DeVries
Robert LeBrun Adrian Pasdar
Mademoiselle Reisz Ellen Burstyn
Alcee Arobin Julian Sands
Victor LeBrun Anthony DeSando
Adele Ratignolle Glenne Headly
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Set amid the seascaped swirls of Creole society, circa late 19th century, ''Grand Isle'' is an entrancing tapestry of cross-cultural waves and Southern currents. Set on the wind-soothed Louisiana resort of Grand Isle, the story centers on Edna (Kelly McGillis), a 28-year-old mother of two whose marriage to a wealthy older broker (Joe DeVries) affords her no outlet other than familial task-etry.
A playful, Grand Isle friendship with a younger Creole gentleman Robert (Adrian Pasdar) stimulates long lost urges in her -- sexual and artistic pangs that she has not, seemingly, experienced since her dreamy youth. She takes to etching, partially, it seems, as a sublimation for her obvious sexual attraction to Robert, partially, because, she once dreamed of being an artist.
But her somewhat smug bubble of artistic self-expression is smartly punctured by an eccentric, and thoroughly independent pianist, Mademoiselle Reisz (Ellen Burstyn) who, while admiring her audacity in spreading her wings, also discredits her conceit that she possesses the soul and the ''gifts'' to be an artist.
Indeed, this hard challenge from such a liberated spirit is what lifts screenwriter Hesper Anderson's adaptation of Kate Chopin's novel ''The Awakening'' beyond the singular dimension of feminist dogma to a grander story of personal growth and individuality.
Undeniably, there is a discernible editorial slant to this story: throughout, Edna's family life is portrayed as offering not one iota of emotional sustenance to her. In this stacked-story deck, husband Leonce is a merely a one-dimensional burgher while her two children are merely underfoot on the porch. As such, her choice to sacrifice her family life to her ''art'' and love for Robert is diminished by the fact that this difficult decision is way too easy, merely a black-and-white issue here.
Under director Mary Lambert's strong hand, Edna's personal turmoils and triumphs waft together in a swirling succession of conflicting emotions and challenges. Using the soft but explosive colors of Grand Isle's seascape as textural punctuation, Lambert fuses Edna's surging emotional states to the ebb-and-flow of nature's tides.
While ''Grand Isle's'' narrative is transparently blunt, the film is, nevertheless, awash with tonal nuance: cinematographer Toyomichi Kurita's radiant, late-afternoon hues are in sync with Edna's personal timetable, while Elliot Goldenthal's orginal music and savvy score selection, primarily Chopin's Nocture in E minor, lend a melancholy but strong cadence to Edna's resolve.
GRAND ISLE
Turner Pictures
Producers Kelly McGillis, Carolyn Pfeiffer
Director Mary Lambert
Screenwriter Hesper Anderson
Based on the novel ''The Awakening'' by Kate Chopin
Director of photography Toyomichi Kurita
Costume designer Martin Pakeldinaz
Production designer Michelle Minch
Original music and adaptation Elliot Goldenthal
Editor Tom Finan
Casting Fern Champion
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Edna Pontellier Kelly McGillis
Leonce Pontellier Jon DeVries
Robert LeBrun Adrian Pasdar
Mademoiselle Reisz Ellen Burstyn
Alcee Arobin Julian Sands
Victor LeBrun Anthony DeSando
Adele Ratignolle Glenne Headly
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 11/18/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.