A landmark member of our
theatre community...and the world, has passed away
How remarkable that a lad
born in the Bronx on March 28th 1920 should one day become one of
the world’s most respected scholars and researchers of the life and writings
of the famous playwright GB Shaw. Dan Laurence certainly came to his love of
theatre naturally enough. Both of his parents were theatre professionals,
even at one time including him in their vaudeville act when he was 12. He
was a child actor for a number of years and then became stage manager for “Brighton Beach.’’ He later worked with well known stage performers such as
Ethel Barrymore, Francis Lederer and
Jane Cowl. He was the star of “Captain Brass Band’s Conversation”,
which gave Dan his first role in a play written by
George Bernard Shaw. Others he worked with were Florence Reed,
Estelle Winwood,
Buster Keaton, Canada Lee.
The next phase of his
life, which lasted 41 months, was in the USAAF; 36 of those months took him
out of the US, serving as a writer and performer for Armed Services Radio.
His first assignment was in
Australia were he met and fell in love with Fran. For several years
thereafter he was assigned to a number of bases in the Pacific Islands and
continued to serve as a writer and performer for the Armed Services Radio. He was
shipped back to the US when the war ended, preventing him from returning to
marry his sweetheart. His father promised him money to return to
Australia if he would first finish the one semester he needed to
graduate with a degree in English from Hoffstra University. With that
accomplished, he returned to wed his love. She continued to live with her
parents while they both worked to save money, so that they could set up a
place of their own. The premature birth of their child occurred and both
mother and child died before he could reach them.
Then NYU became his focus,
as he worked on his Master’s degree serving as a graduate assistant, and
later an associate professor of English. Other universities he taught
included Indiana University, U of
Texas, Penn State, Andrew Mellon, Dartmouth, and Tulane, and in
Canada,
Guelph and UBC. His passion for the writings of Shaw, through many
years of study, became so well known that he was appointed literary and
dramatic advisor for the estate of G B Shaw, a position he held from
1973-1990. His association with the Shaw Festival Ontario began in 1982 as
literary advisor and member of the acting ensemble. He served as associate
director from 1987-2000. He was elected president of the International Shaw
Society in 2004, which held a special tribute to him that same year.
Throughout his academic
life he wrote prodigiously, and the works were of true merit. Most acclaimed
are his bibliographies of the works of Shaw, and
Henry James, four volumes of “Collected Letters of
Bernard Shaw”, 7 volumes of “Bernard
Shaw’s Collected Plays with their Prefaces”.
Admiration for Maureen
Halligan and Ronnie Ibbs, who headed the drama department at
Incarnate Word College, drew him to
San Antonio. He was a co-founder of OffStage, Inc. and
appeared in productions with them and other theatres. His final performance
was a play he wrote “G B S in Love”.
He died this morning Feb. 5th, at The Village at Incarnate Word
Retirement Center .
The family would like any
donations in Dan's memory to go to the Humane Society SPCA at 4804
Fredericksburg Rd. 78229 or San Antonio Public Library at 600 Soledad 78205
or the charity of the giver's choice.
A memorial will be planned
for a later time.
