James Kirkwood, Jr.

James Kirkwood, Jr. (August 22, 1924 – April 21, 1989) was an American playwright and author. 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. Kirkwood was born in Los Angeles, California. His father James Kirkwood, Sr. was an actor and director in silent films and his mother was actress Lila Lee. After their divorce, he spent much of h... more

James Kirkwood, Jr. (August 22, 1924 – April 21, 1989) was an American playwright and author. 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. Kirkwood was born in Los Angeles, California. His father James Kirkwood, Sr. was an actor and director in silent films and his mother was actress Lila Lee. After their divorce, he spent much of his time with his mother's family in Elyria, Ohio where he graduated from high school. Kirkwood wrote the semi-autobiographical novel There Must Be a Pony, which was made into a television film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Wagner. In the story, the main character Jimmy acted in the 1950s TV series Valiant Lady, as Kirkwood himself had done in real life. 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,... less