Mart Crowley in his office (Photo courtesy UCLA Library) Mart Crowley, the playwright behind one of the most groundbreaking queer plays of all time, has died at 84.
Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi as Edward Martino Crowley, his play “The Boys in the Band” was the first major American drama explicitly dealing with the lives of gay men.
Reportedly written at the suggestion of the actress Natalie Wood, for whom he worked as a personal assistant, it debuted off-Broadway in 1968 – at a time when queer representation on the stage and screen was largely non-existent.
It drew packed audiences, both gay and straight, and was made into a film by director William Friedkin in 1970. While the play has long been seen as a seminal work in the LGBTQ canon,
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