Tom Cole (writer)
Encyclopedia
Charles Thomas "Tom" Cole (c. 1933 – February 23, 2009) was a playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the screenplay for Smooth Talk
.
. His father was a labor arbitrator. He graduated in 1954 from Harvard University
, following which he enlisted in the United States Army
, where he was assigned to study Russian language
at the Army language school in Monterey, California
. He was assigned to Moscow
in the Summer of 1959 as an interpreter at the American National Exhibition
, which exhibited American art, culture, science and technology and culture to residents of the Soviet Union
, with Cole responsible for describing American farm machinery to visitors. There, he was an observer at the impromptu Kitchen Debate
, between then-Vice President of the United States
Richard Nixon
and Premier of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev
.
He returned to Harvard, where he was awarded a master's degree in Russian. He was on the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, teaching Russian and English literature.
The story of Dwight H. Johnson
, a black Vietnam War
veteran who had won the Medal of Honor
for valor in combat and was shot and killed by police in 1971 while holding up a Detroit convenience store, became the impetus for Medal of Honor Rag, a two-character play that fictionalized the story as a confrontation set at an Army Hospital in 1971 between Dale Jackson, a troubled black war hero and a white psychiatrist who specializes in "impacted grief". The role of Dale Jackson was performed in 1976 by Howard Rollins
. A television version of the play was broadcast in April 1982 on PBS's American Playhouse
, produced by Joyce Chopra
, with Damien Leake in the role of a "shrewd and confused, tortured and threatening, vulnerable and stubborn" Dale Jackson and Hector Elizondo
as the psychiatrist.
Fighting Bob, a play about progressive Wisconsin
Senator
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
, was first produced in Milwaukee in 1979 with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. The play was performed Off Broadway at the Astor Place Theatre
in 1981. In his review in The New York Times
, Mel Gussow
called the play "stubbornly undramatic", with "facts, figures, excerpts from press reports" normally printed in the program of a historical play spoken in the performance.
About Time
debuted in 1990 at the John Houseman Theater, a two-character play about an elderly couple, identified only as Old Man and Old Woman, chatting and arguing about matters around the subject of death. Directed by Tony Giordano, the play original production starred James Whitmore
and Audra Lindley
, described in a Mel Gussow
review as an "endearing couple" who "act their way through and around the slight play that Tom Cole has created for them". Lindley and Whitmore had been married to each other and divorced in 1979, yet continued to perform with each other on stage.
He wrote the screenplay for the 1985 film Smooth Talk
, based on the 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
by Joyce Carol Oates
. The film told the story of a teenage girl exploring her sexual identity, whose portrayal by Laura Dern
helped bring her to fame in what was the surprise hit of that year's Sundance Film Festival
. The film, directed by Joyce Chopra, won acclaim for its portrayal of Dern's character and her awkward transition to adulthood.
at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut
. He was survived by his wife, Joyce Chopra, as well as a daughter, a brother and a sister. He had divorced his first wife, Ellen Nurnberg.
Smooth Talk
Smooth Talk is a 1985 drama film, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The protagonist and main character, Connie Wyatt, is played by Laura Dern...
.
Biography
Cole was born in 1933 in Paterson, New JerseyPaterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
. His father was a labor arbitrator. He graduated in 1954 from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, following which he enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, where he was assigned to study Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
at the Army language school in Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
. He was assigned to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in the Summer of 1959 as an interpreter at the American National Exhibition
American National Exhibition
The American National Exhibition was held in Sokol'niki Park, Moscow in the summer of 1959.-Objectives:The exhibit was sponsored by the American government, and it followed a similar Soviet Exhibit in New York City earlier that year...
, which exhibited American art, culture, science and technology and culture to residents of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, with Cole responsible for describing American farm machinery to visitors. There, he was an observer at the impromptu Kitchen Debate
Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...
, between then-Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Premier of the Soviet Union
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
.
He returned to Harvard, where he was awarded a master's degree in Russian. He was on the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, teaching Russian and English literature.
Writing
His 1965 debut work An End to Chivalry, included stories based on his experiences in Russia.The story of Dwight H. Johnson
Dwight H. Johnson
Dwight Hal Johnson a native of Detroit, Michigan was a United States Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in January 1968 during the Vietnam War.-Early life:...
, a black Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran who had won the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for valor in combat and was shot and killed by police in 1971 while holding up a Detroit convenience store, became the impetus for Medal of Honor Rag, a two-character play that fictionalized the story as a confrontation set at an Army Hospital in 1971 between Dale Jackson, a troubled black war hero and a white psychiatrist who specializes in "impacted grief". The role of Dale Jackson was performed in 1976 by Howard Rollins
Howard Rollins
Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. was an American television, film, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker, Jr...
. A television version of the play was broadcast in April 1982 on PBS's American Playhouse
American Playhouse
American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.It premiered on January 12, 1982 with The Shady Hill Kidnapping, written and narrated by John Cheever and directed by Paul Bogart...
, produced by Joyce Chopra
Joyce Chopra
Joyce Chopra , is an American director and writer of feature films and television.- Partial director filmography :*A Happy Mother's Day co-directed with Richard Leacock*Joyce at 34...
, with Damien Leake in the role of a "shrewd and confused, tortured and threatening, vulnerable and stubborn" Dale Jackson and Hector Elizondo
Hector Elizondo
Héctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
as the psychiatrist.
Fighting Bob, a play about progressive Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
, was first produced in Milwaukee in 1979 with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. The play was performed Off Broadway at the Astor Place Theatre
Astor Place Theatre
The Astor Place Theatre is an off-Broadway house located at 434 Lafayette Street in the NoHo section of Manhattan. The theater is located in the historic Colonnade Row, originally constructed in 1831 as a series of nine connected buildings, of which only four remain...
in 1981. In his review in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Mel Gussow
Mel Gussow
Melvyn H. Gussow was an American theater critic, movie critic, and author who wrote for The New York Times for 35 years.-Biography:...
called the play "stubbornly undramatic", with "facts, figures, excerpts from press reports" normally printed in the program of a historical play spoken in the performance.
About Time
About Time (play)
About Time is a theatrical play written by playwright Tom Cole that debuted in 1990 Off Broadway at the John Houseman Theater. This two-character play featured an elderly couple, identified only as Old Man and Old Woman, chatting and arguing about matters around the subject of death...
debuted in 1990 at the John Houseman Theater, a two-character play about an elderly couple, identified only as Old Man and Old Woman, chatting and arguing about matters around the subject of death. Directed by Tony Giordano, the play original production starred James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
and Audra Lindley
Audra Lindley
Audra Marie Lindley was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Career:...
, described in a Mel Gussow
Mel Gussow
Melvyn H. Gussow was an American theater critic, movie critic, and author who wrote for The New York Times for 35 years.-Biography:...
review as an "endearing couple" who "act their way through and around the slight play that Tom Cole has created for them". Lindley and Whitmore had been married to each other and divorced in 1979, yet continued to perform with each other on stage.
He wrote the screenplay for the 1985 film Smooth Talk
Smooth Talk
Smooth Talk is a 1985 drama film, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The protagonist and main character, Connie Wyatt, is played by Laura Dern...
, based on the 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a frequently anthologized short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story first appeared in the Fall 1966 edition of Epoch Magazine. It was inspired by three Tucson, Arizona murders committed by Charles Schmid, which were profiled in Life magazine...
by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction...
. The film told the story of a teenage girl exploring her sexual identity, whose portrayal by Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
helped bring her to fame in what was the surprise hit of that year's Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. The film, directed by Joyce Chopra, won acclaim for its portrayal of Dern's character and her awkward transition to adulthood.
Death
Cole died at age 75 on February 23, 2009 of multiple myelomaMultiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...
at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut
Roxbury, Connecticut
Roxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,136 at the 2000 census.-History:Roxbury, whose Indian name was "Shepaug", a Mahican name signifiying "rocky water", was settled about the year 1713...
. He was survived by his wife, Joyce Chopra, as well as a daughter, a brother and a sister. He had divorced his first wife, Ellen Nurnberg.