John "Jack" Gilhooley

Playwright and educator John “Jack” Gilhooley, 84, died on January 5, 2023, in Sarasota, Florida, with his wife Jo Morello at his side. Jack had triumphed over serious health issues over the years, never complaining and always moving forward, until this last illness took him. Jack was born in Bala Cynwyd, PA, in 1938 and raised in Philadelphia and New York City, where he began his prolific playwriting career. Jack earned a B.S. from Syracuse University and master’s degrees from both Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania. He moved to Sarasota, Florida in 1988, where he met and married Jo Morello, a lifelong writer with previous theatrical production experience. Seeing an obvious fit, he encouraged her dramatic writing, gaining not just a life partner but also a sometime-writing partner and adding co-authored productions to their list of credits. Quoting T.S. Eliot, he generously called her “the better craftsman” but she insists the title is his. Formerly a university professor, Jack switched to dramatic writing in the 1970s, beginning a career that saw American Theatre magazine once name him among the most produced American playwrights. His work included productions of almost 200 plays onstage, on air and online; 20 publications; and 75 fellowships, commissions, awards and honors. His plays were mounted nationally and internationally in over 130 venues, sometimes almost simultaneously, as with 1977 productions of Mummer’s End at the Asolo State Theatre, the Folger, and the Shubert. His plays were also produced in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Scotland, Spain, France, Canada, and Australia. Jack’s work was about more than numbers, however, as attested by his numerous honors, awards, and generous mentoring—sometimes hidden beneath his crusty exterior. This former university professor at Western Connecticut College and Drama Department Chair at Jersey City State College at one time secured funding and resources to send his students touring through New Jersey projects with the first theater presentations many youth had ever seen. Theatre professionals acclaimed him. Ed Asner, who performed in two of Jack’s plays, was one of his biggest fans, saying “I love this man’s writing.” Joseph Papp, who produced The Time Trial in 1975 (with Tommy Lee Jones) at his off-Broadway Public Theater, called the work “profoundly human…a mordant and unsparing work written without apology and, in an odd way, aimed directly at us.” The NY Post’s Marilyn Stasio, reviewing Afternoons in Vegas, cited Gilhooley’s “infallible ear for real-life human speech” and said that “if the playwright were a camera, certain primitive tribes would surely ban him, for fear he would capture their souls.” Of Red Bessie, co-authored with Dan Czitrom, Keith Miller of The London Times reviewed it as “clear-headed and humane, … and more fun than might be expected of such a high-minded project.” He was awarded guest artist positions at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Sundance Playwrights’ Lab, Avignon Festival, Ireland’s Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Mount Holyoke College, Hawthornden Castle International Retreat (twice), and many others. The Fulbright Association sent him on full-semester professorships at Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, and National University of Ireland at Maynooth. A Canada Council Grant and NEA grant (his second) took him to the Centaur Theatre in Montreal, Canada. Jack was a member of New Dramatists, Dramatists Guild of America, Theatre Communications Group, the James Joyce Society, the Fulbright Association, the Eugene O’Neill Society, and others. His publishers include Samuel French/Concord Theatricals, Broadway Play Publishing, Applause Books, Smith & Kraus, Palmetto Press, Meriwether Press. Besides Jo, his wife of 33 years, Jack leaves step-grandchildren Dylan Zhang--“Spike” to Jack--(wife: Lindsay Zhang-Huba) of Albany, NY, and Katherine Zhang--“Trixie” to Jack--of Los Angeles; and his sister-in-law Patricia Gilhooley and nephews Scott and Christopher Gilhooley in California. A Visitation to celebrate and share memories of Jack Gilhooley’s Life will be held at Gendron Funeral Home on January 18, 2023 at 2p; followed by a service at 3p. ________________________________________________________ Resources: Jack Gilhooley | Broadway Play Publishing Inc https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n83-165907/ https://www.lil-and-satchmo.com/creative-team https://siestasand.us/featured-artist-3-14/ http://www.filmreference.com/film/65/Jack-Gilhooley.html Jack Gilhooley | Playwrights' Center (pwcenter.org)

John "Jack" Gilhooley

June 26, 1938 - January 5, 2023