Sumner Locke Elliott: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Novelist and playwright}} |
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{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}} |
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|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1991|6|24|1917|10|17}} |
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1991|6|24|1917|10|17}} |
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|death_place=[[New York City]], [[United States]] |
|death_place=[[New York City]], [[United States]] |
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|occupation= {hlist|Novelist|playwright|radio writer|screenwriter}} |
|occupation= {{hlist|Novelist|playwright|radio writer|screenwriter}} |
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'''Sumner Locke Elliott''' (17 October 1917{{spaced ndash}}24 June 1991) was an Australian (later American) novelist and playwright. |
'''Sumner Locke Elliott''' (17 October 1917{{spaced ndash}}24 June 1991) was an Australian (later American) novelist and playwright. |
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==World War II== |
==World War II== |
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Elliott became an actor and writer with the [[Doris Fitton]]'s [[Independent Theatre|The Independent Theatre Ltd.]] |
Elliott became an actor and writer with the [[Doris Fitton]]'s [[Independent Theatre|The Independent Theatre Ltd.]] He was drafted into the [[Australian Army]] in 1942, but instead of being posted overseas, he worked as a clerk in Australia. He used these experiences as the inspiration for his controversial play, ''[[Rusty Bugles]]''. The play toured extensively throughout Australia and achieved the notoriety of being closed down for obscenity by the Chief Secretary's Office.<ref name="Alomes1999">{{cite book|last=Alomes|first=Stephen|title=When London Calls: The Expatriation of Australian Creative Artists to Britain|url=https://archive.org/details/whenlondoncalls00step|url-access=registration|date=11 October 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-62978-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/whenlondoncalls00step/page/35 35]}}</ref> |
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However, ''Rusty Bugles''' place in the history of Australian theatre rests on more than notoriety. Mac is a memorable character in the play, and in the first production, [[Frank O'Donnell (actor)|Frank O'Donnell]] transformed audiences' understanding of the typical Australian 'bludger' or 'scrounger'. To the men in his unit, he appeared a winner even when he was losing, but with the discovery of his wife's infidelity, his fragility becomes apparent.<ref name=locke>{{cite web|url=http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/elliottsl/elliottsl.html|title=Sumner Locke Elliott|publisher=Middlemiss.org|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref> |
However, ''Rusty Bugles''' place in the history of Australian theatre rests on more than notoriety. Mac is a memorable character in the play, and in the first production, [[Frank O'Donnell (actor)|Frank O'Donnell]] transformed audiences' understanding of the typical Australian 'bludger' or 'scrounger'. To the men in his unit, he appeared a winner even when he was losing, but with the discovery of his wife's infidelity, his fragility becomes apparent.<ref name=locke>{{cite web|url=http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/elliottsl/elliottsl.html|title=Sumner Locke Elliott|publisher=Middlemiss.org|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref> |
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==Television== |
==Television== |
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Elliott moved to the United States in 1948, where he ranked in the pantheon of leading playwrights during the Golden Age of live television dramas, writing more than 30 original plays and numerous adaptations for such shows as ''[[Philco |
Elliott moved to the United States in 1948, where he ranked in the pantheon of leading playwrights during the Golden Age of live television dramas, writing more than 30 original plays and numerous adaptations for such shows as ''[[The Philco Television Playhouse]]'', ''[[Kraft Television Theatre]]'', ''[[Studio One (radio-TV series)|Studio One]]'' and ''[[Playhouse 90]]''. He also wrote a play, ''Buy Me Blue Ribbons'', which had a short run on Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Buy Me Blue Ribbons''|publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]]|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1965|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref> |
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In 1955, he obtained United States citizenship and did not return to Australia until 1974.<ref name=locke/> |
In 1955, he obtained United States citizenship and did not return to Australia until 1974.<ref name=locke/> His TV play ''[[The Grey Nurse Said Nothing (The General Motors Hour)|The Grey Nurse Said Nothing]]'' aired on TV in the US and Australia.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-the-grey-nurse-said-nothing/|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Grey Nurse Said Nothing|date=November 17, 2020}}</ref> |
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==Books== |
==Books== |
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===TV plays=== |
===TV plays=== |
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*"[[Wicked is the Vine]]" |
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*"Beloved Stranger" (1955), for ''[[Goodyear Television Playhouse]]'' (1955) |
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*"[[The Crater (TV play)|The Crater]]"<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-australia-on-us-tv-wicked-is-the-vine-and-the-crater/|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Australia on US TV – Sumner Locke Elliott’s Wicked is the Vine and The Crater|first= Stephen|last= Vagg|date=September 11, 2022}}</ref> |
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*"The Thin Air" (1952), "We Were Children" (1952), "Before I Wake" (1953) and "Friday the 13th" (1954) for ''[[Philco Television Playhouse]]'' |
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*"The Girl with the Stop Watch" (1953)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety192-1953-10/page/n275/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety - this was directed by [[Arthur Penn]]</ref> and "Beloved Stranger" (1955), for ''[[Goodyear Television Playhouse]]'' (1955) |
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*"The King and Mrs. Candle," for ''[[Producers' Showcase]]'' (1955) |
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*"The Thin Air" (1952), "[[We Were Children (television play)|We Were Children]]" (1952),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety186-1952-05/page/n35/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of play] at Variety</ref> "Fadeout" (1953),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety191-1953-08/page/n219/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> "Before I Wake" (1953)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety190-1953-06/page/n121/mode/2up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review] at Variety</ref> and "[[Friday the 13th (television play)|Friday the 13th]]" (1954) for ''[[The Philco Television Playhouse]]'' |
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*"Fade Out" (1953)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety192-1953-10/page/n43/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> for ''Philco Radio Playhouse'' |
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*"The King and Mrs. Candle,"<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety199-1955-08/page/n229/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> and "The Women" (1956)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety197-1955-02/page/n118/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> for ''[[Producers' Showcase]]'' (1955) |
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*"Whereabouts Unknown," for ''The Kaiser-Aluminum Hour'' (1957) |
*"Whereabouts Unknown," for ''The Kaiser-Aluminum Hour'' (1957) |
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*"Babe in the Woods" (1957) and "Love at Fourth Sight" (1957) for ''[[Westinghouse Studio One|Studio One]]'' |
*"Little Women" (1950)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety180-1950-12/page/n175/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Part one review] at Variety</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety180-1950-12/page/n231/mode/2up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Part Two Review] at Variety</ref> "Babe in the Woods" (1957)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety206-1957-05/page/n193/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> and "Love at Fourth Sight" (1957) for ''[[Westinghouse Studio One|Studio One]]'' |
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*"The Count of Monte Cristo" (1958) and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1961) for ''Dupont Show of the Month'' |
*"The Count of Monte Cristo" (1958),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety212-1958-11/page/n38/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at ''Variety''</ref> "The Winslow Boy" (1958)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety212-1958-11/page/n182/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1961) for ''Dupont Show of the Month'' |
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*"Keyhole" (1956),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety202-1956-05/page/n320/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> "Daisy! Daisy!" (1956)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety200-1955-11/page/n327/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> and "You and Me... and the Gatepost!" (1956)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety202-1956-04/page/n171/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of play] at Variety</ref> for ''Playwrights '56'' |
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*"Daisy! Daisy!" (1956) and "You and Me... and the Gatepost!" (1956) for ''Playwrights '56'' |
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*"I Heard You Calling Me" (1961), for ''Way Out'' |
*"I Heard You Calling Me" (1961), for ''Way Out'' |
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*"Mrs. Gilling and the Skyscraper" (1957) for ''[[The Alcoa Hour]]'' |
*"Mrs. Gilling and the Skyscraper" (1957) for ''[[The Alcoa Hour]]'' |
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*"Dusty Portrait" (1952), "Wish on the Moon," (1953) and "Run Girl Run" (1954)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety196-1954-12/page/n309/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of play] at Variety</ref> for ''[[The Philco Television Playhouse]]''. |
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*"Wish on the Moon," for ''[[Philco-Goodyear Playhouse]]'' (1953). |
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*"Peter Pan" (1960) starring Mary Martin<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety221-1960-12/page/n116/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> |
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*"Notorious" (1962)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety-1961-12/page/n102/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> and "Spellbound" (1962)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety-1962-02/page/n119/mode/1up?q=%22sumner+locke%22 Review of production] at Variety</ref> for ''Theatre 62'' |
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===Radio plays=== |
===Radio plays=== |
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*''[[Crazy Family]]'' (1939) - serial |
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*''[[Jezebel's Daughter]]'' (1941) - serial |
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*''[[Tradesman's Entrance]]'' (1941) - radio serial |
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*''[[Grand City]]'' (1942) - serial |
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*''[[Scarlet Rhapsody]]'' - serial |
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*''[[The Army Hour (Australian radio series)|The Army Hour]]'' (1944) |
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*''[[Lily Parker]]'' |
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*''[[Ride a Cock Horse (play)]]'' |
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[[Category:Australian emigrants to the United States]] |
[[Category:Australian emigrants to the United States]] |
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[[Category:Australian people of English descent]] |
[[Category:Australian people of English descent]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:American gay writers]] |
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[[Category:LGBT |
[[Category:Australian LGBT novelists]] |
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[[Category:LGBT writers from the United States]] |
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[[Category:Miles Franklin Award winners]] |
[[Category:Miles Franklin Award winners]] |
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[[Category:Patrick White Award winners]] |
[[Category:Patrick White Award winners]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Gay novelists]] |
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[[Category:Gay dramatists and playwrights]] |
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[[Category:20th-century Australian novelists]] |
[[Category:20th-century Australian novelists]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American novelists]] |
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]] |
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]] |
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[[Category:LGBT dramatists and playwrights]] |
[[Category:American LGBT dramatists and playwrights]] |
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[[Category:LGBT novelists]] |
[[Category:American LGBT novelists]] |
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[[Category:American male novelists]] |
[[Category:American male novelists]] |
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[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]] |
[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]] |
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[[Category:20th-century Australian male writers]] |
[[Category:20th-century Australian male writers]] |
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[[Category:Australian male novelists]] |
[[Category:Australian male novelists]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American male writers]] |
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[[Category:20th-century Australian LGBT people]] |
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[[Category:Australian gay writers]] |
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[[Category:Australian LGBT dramatists and playwrights]] |
Latest revision as of 15:29, 28 April 2024
Sumner Locke Elliott | |
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Born | |
Died | 24 June 1991 | (aged 73)
Occupations |
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Sumner Locke Elliott (17 October 1917 – 24 June 1991) was an Australian (later American) novelist and playwright.
Biography
[edit]Elliott was born in Sydney to the writer Sumner Locke and the journalist Henry Logan Elliott. His mother died of eclampsia one day after his birth.[1] Elliott was raised by his aunts, who had a fierce custody battle over him, fictionalised in Elliott's autobiographical novel, Careful, He Might Hear You. Elliott was educated at Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, Sydney.
World War II
[edit]Elliott became an actor and writer with the Doris Fitton's The Independent Theatre Ltd. He was drafted into the Australian Army in 1942, but instead of being posted overseas, he worked as a clerk in Australia. He used these experiences as the inspiration for his controversial play, Rusty Bugles. The play toured extensively throughout Australia and achieved the notoriety of being closed down for obscenity by the Chief Secretary's Office.[2]
However, Rusty Bugles' place in the history of Australian theatre rests on more than notoriety. Mac is a memorable character in the play, and in the first production, Frank O'Donnell transformed audiences' understanding of the typical Australian 'bludger' or 'scrounger'. To the men in his unit, he appeared a winner even when he was losing, but with the discovery of his wife's infidelity, his fragility becomes apparent.[3]
Television
[edit]Elliott moved to the United States in 1948, where he ranked in the pantheon of leading playwrights during the Golden Age of live television dramas, writing more than 30 original plays and numerous adaptations for such shows as The Philco Television Playhouse, Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One and Playhouse 90. He also wrote a play, Buy Me Blue Ribbons, which had a short run on Broadway.[4]
In 1955, he obtained United States citizenship and did not return to Australia until 1974.[3] His TV play The Grey Nurse Said Nothing aired on TV in the US and Australia.[5]
Books
[edit]Elliott's best known novel, Careful, He Might Hear You, won the 1963 Miles Franklin Award and was turned into a film in 1983.
Private life
[edit]As a gay man during a time when this was socially disapproved of, Elliott was uncomfortable with his sexuality. He kept it secret until nearly the end of his life before coming out in his book Fairyland. Because of these fears, Elliott had affairs but never had any stable relationships.[6]
Death
[edit]He died of colon cancer aged 73 in New York City in 1991.
Bibliography
[edit]Novels
[edit]- Careful, He Might Hear You (1963)
- Some Doves and Pythons (1966)
- Edens Lost (1969)
- The Man Who Got Away (1972)
- Going (1975)
- Water Under the Bridge (1977)
- Rusty Bugles (1980)
- Signs of Life (1981)
- About Tilly Beamis (1985)
- Waiting for Childhood (1987)
- Fairyland (1990)
Short stories
[edit]- Radio Days (1993)
Plays
[edit]- Storm (1931) (one-act)
- Interval (1939)
- The Cow Jumped Over the Moon (1939)
- The Little Sheep Run Fast (1940)
- Goodbye to the Music (1942)
- Your Obedient Servant (1943)
- The Invisible Circus (1946)
- Wicked Is the Vine (first Australian play to be televised in US)[7]
- Rusty Bugles (1948)
- Buy Me Blue Ribbons (1951)
- John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953)
TV plays
[edit]- "Wicked is the Vine"
- "The Crater"[8]
- "The Girl with the Stop Watch" (1953)[9] and "Beloved Stranger" (1955), for Goodyear Television Playhouse (1955)
- "The Thin Air" (1952), "We Were Children" (1952),[10] "Fadeout" (1953),[11] "Before I Wake" (1953)[12] and "Friday the 13th" (1954) for The Philco Television Playhouse
- "Fade Out" (1953)[13] for Philco Radio Playhouse
- "The King and Mrs. Candle,"[14] and "The Women" (1956)[15] for Producers' Showcase (1955)
- "Whereabouts Unknown," for The Kaiser-Aluminum Hour (1957)
- "Little Women" (1950)[16][17] "Babe in the Woods" (1957)[18] and "Love at Fourth Sight" (1957) for Studio One
- "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1958),[19] "The Winslow Boy" (1958)[20] and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1961) for Dupont Show of the Month
- "Keyhole" (1956),[21] "Daisy! Daisy!" (1956)[22] and "You and Me... and the Gatepost!" (1956)[23] for Playwrights '56
- "I Heard You Calling Me" (1961), for Way Out
- "Mrs. Gilling and the Skyscraper" (1957) for The Alcoa Hour
- "Dusty Portrait" (1952), "Wish on the Moon," (1953) and "Run Girl Run" (1954)[24] for The Philco Television Playhouse.
- "Peter Pan" (1960) starring Mary Martin[25]
- "Notorious" (1962)[26] and "Spellbound" (1962)[27] for Theatre 62
Radio plays
[edit]- Crazy Family (1939) - serial
- Jezebel's Daughter (1941) - serial
- Tradesman's Entrance (1941) - radio serial
- Grand City (1942) - serial
- Scarlet Rhapsody - serial
- The Army Hour (1944)
- Lily Parker
- "Wicked is the Vine" – Lux Radio Theatre (1947)
- Ride a Cock Horse (play)
References
[edit]- ^ [1] Archived 22 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Alomes, Stephen (11 October 1999). When London Calls: The Expatriation of Australian Creative Artists to Britain. Cambridge University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-521-62978-2.
- ^ a b "Sumner Locke Elliott". Middlemiss.org. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Buy Me Blue Ribbons". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (17 November 2020). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Grey Nurse Said Nothing". Filmink.
- ^ [2] Archived 25 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sydney Morning Herald". Trove.nla.gov.au. 27 October 1948. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (11 September 2022). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Australia on US TV – Sumner Locke Elliott's Wicked is the Vine and The Crater". Filmink.
- ^ Review of production at Variety - this was directed by Arthur Penn
- ^ Review of play at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Part one review at Variety
- ^ Part Two Review at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of play at Variety
- ^ Review of play at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
- ^ Review of production at Variety
External links
[edit]- 1917 births
- 1991 deaths
- Australian emigrants to the United States
- Australian people of English descent
- American gay writers
- Australian LGBT novelists
- Miles Franklin Award winners
- Patrick White Award winners
- Gay novelists
- Gay dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century Australian novelists
- 20th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- American LGBT dramatists and playwrights
- American LGBT novelists
- American male novelists
- American male dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century Australian male writers
- Australian male novelists
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century Australian LGBT people
- Australian gay writers
- Australian LGBT dramatists and playwrights