thumb|James Kirkwood Jr. as a baby with his parents [[James Kirkwood Sr. and Lila Lee in 1924.]]
James Kirkwood Jr. (August 22, 1924 – April 21, 1989) was an American playwright, author and actor. In 1976 he received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the Broadway hit A Chorus Line.
Biography
Kirkwood was born in Los Angeles. His father James Kirkwood Sr. was an actor and director in silent films, and his mother was actress Lila Lee. He had a half sister Joan Mary Kirkwood Thompson. After their divorce, he spent much of his time with his mother's family in Elyria, Ohio, where he graduated from high school.
Career
From 1953 to 1957, he played Mickey Emerson on the soap opera Valiant Lady. Kirkwood wrote the semi-autobiographical novel There Must Be a Pony!, made into a television film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Wagner. Other novels include P.S. Your Cat Is Dead (adapted into a play of the same name, which was, in turn, adapted into a film by Steve Guttenberg), Good Times/Bad Times, Some Kind of Hero, and Hit Me with a Rainbow.
In 1959, Kirkwood appeared on Perry Mason as Johnny Baylor, son of Sen. Harriman Baylor, in "The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll."
In 1970, Simon & Schuster published Kirkwood's American Grotesque about the trial of Clay Shaw. Shaw, a New Orleans businessman, was tried by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison on charges that he was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate United States President John F. Kennedy and later acquitted. Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Kirkwood's portrait of Shaw as St. Sebastian is overdone to the point of self defeat" and that "the book does clinch the impression that legal grounds for the conspiracy charges were insufficient."
Kirkwood died in his Manhattan apartment of AIDS-related complications in 1989.
Literary prize
In Kirkwood's memory, his friends and admirers established the James Kirkwood Literary Prize to honor new generations of fiction writers for their literary achievements. The competition is hosted by the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, and the winner is determined by Andrew Morse, the prize's benefactor.
Works
Novels
- There Must Be a Pony!
- Good Times/Bad Times
- Hit Me with a Rainbow
- Some Kind of Hero (adapted by Kirkwood into the film of the same name)
- P.S. Your Cat Is Dead
- I Teach Flying (unfinished)
Plays
- U.T.B.U. (Unhealthy To Be Unpleasant)
- Legends!
- A Chorus Line (book – co-authored with Nicholas Dante)
- Stage Stuck (co-authored with Jim Piazza)
Nonfiction
- American Grotesque: An Account of the Clay Shaw-Jim Garrison Affair in the City of New Orleans (Simon and Schuster, 1970)
- Diary of a Mad Playwright: Perilous Adventures on the Road with Mary Martin and Carol Channing, about production of the play Legends! (Dutton, 1989)
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1958|| Alfred Hitchcock Presents || Dave || Season 4 Episode 3: "The Jokester"
|-
|1980|| Oh, God! Book II || Psychiatrist 2 ||
|-
|1981|| Mommie Dearest || Master of Ceremonies ||
|-
|1986|| The Supernaturals || Captain || (final film role)
|}