Willy Holtzman is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, often focusing on theatrical representations of actual historical events. Holtzman has received, two Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

 nominations, a Humanitas Prize

Humanitas Prize

The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...

, a Writers Guild Award, a Peabody Award

Peabody Award

The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...

, as well as an HBO Award at the National Playwrights Conference.

Personal life

Willy Holtzman was born and raised as the 2nd of 3 children in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. Holtzman moved to Middletown, CT in 1969 to attend Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

, where he majored in American Studies. After graduation, he moved to Wilton, CT, where he lives with his wife, Sylvia Shepard.
Correct birth date is June 29, 1951

Career

Holtzman's plays have been produced in New York at Primary Stages Theater

Primary Stages Theater

Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as a New York State non-profit theater company with the mission of producing new plays and fostering the artistic development of emerging and established playwrights....

, Theatre for a New Audience, and the Working Theater. He has been produced regionally at the Long Wharf Theatre

Long Wharf Theatre

Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared....

, People's Light and Theatre Company

People's Light and Theatre Company

The People's Light & Theatre Company is a non-profit, professional theatre founded in 1974 in Malvern, Pennsylvania. People's Light produces 8-9 productions per season, as well as plays performed by the Summerstage school program. There is a holiday show each season, and the past 3 years have...

, Baltimore Center Stage, the Alliance Theatre, Geva Theatre, the Cleveland Play House

Cleveland Play House

The Cleveland Play House is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, OH. As of 2005, the artistic director is Michael Bloom, the eighth artistic director since its inception. In 2011 they moved operations to the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square Center.Founded in 1915,...

, Berkshire Theatre Festival

Berkshire Theatre Festival

The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating its 80th anniversary season in 2008.-History:...

, and Northlight Theatre. In 2007 he helped Bonnie Dickinson and her Wilton High School Theatre Arts students create Voices in Conflict

Voices in Conflict

In 2007, 16 students from Wilton High School, in Wilton, CT developed a show consisting of memoirs drawn from letter of soldiers serving in Iraq. The process started as a short play that would be put on for the student body and the community. The play was banned from the high school because it was...

, a play about returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans which ran at the Public Theatre, the Vineyard Theatre

Vineyard Theatre

The Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Its first production was in 1981...

 and the Culture Project. In his 2011 work Morini Strada, a play inspired by a true story that rocked the classical music world, Holtzman dramatizes the concert violinist Erica Morini's hiring of an unassuming violin maker to restore her legendary Stradivarius.

He taught as a visiting artist at Bronx Regional High School in the South Bronx, 1987–89, and was Resident Playwright at Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

, 1990-92. He has worked with the 52d Street Project in New York's Hell's Kitchen and on the Navajo Reservation. Holtzman is a former member of New Dramatists and now serves on its Board of Directors. He is also on the board of Harlem Stage Company.

Writing credits

Plays:

• Morini Strada (2011)
• Something You Did (2008)
• Hearts (2000) (Barrymore Award, Arthur Miller Award)
• Sabina (1996)
• Bovver Boys (1991)
• The Closer (1991)
• Blanco (1989)
• San Antonio Sunset (1989)
• Inside Out (1987)

Film:

• Edge of America (2004)
  • Accolades: (Sundance Film Festival, 2004 Opening Night Selection, Tribeca Film Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, Hampton Film Festival, American Indian Film Festival - Best Picture)

TV:

• "Lifestories: Families in Crisis" (3 episodes, 1992–1994)
  • Brotherly Love: The Trevor Ferrell Story (1994)
  • A Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story (1994) (Emmy Nomination)
  • Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992) (Cine Golden Eagle Award, Cable Ace Award)

Awards

• 2006 Humanitas Award Winner, Children's Live-Action Category (Edge of America)
• 2006 Writers Guild Award Winner, Children's Script Long Form (Edge of America)
• 2005 Peabody Award
  Peabody Award
  The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
  
   Winner

External links

• Willy Holtzman at the Playwrights Database