George Freedley Memorial Award - Winners, 1969-2010
Andrew McConnell Stott. The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain’s Greatest Comedian. Canongate, 2009.
Special Jury Prize:
Marc Robinson. The American Play: 1787-2000. Yale University Press, 2009.
2009
Jayna Brown. Babylon Girls: Black Women Performers and the Shaping of the Modern. Duke University Press, 2008.
2008
Felicia Hardison Londrè. The Enchanted Years of the Stage: Kansas City at the Crossroads of American Theater, 1870-1930. University of Missouri Press, 2007.
2007
Marvin Rosenberg. The Masks of Anthony and Cleopatra. University of Delaware Press, 2006.
Special Jury Prizes:
bruce d. mcclung. Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Patrick Carnegy. Wagner and the Art of Theatre. Yale University Press, 2006.
2006
Kathryn Shevelow. Charlotte: Being a True Account of an Actress's Flamboyant Adventures in Eighteenth-Century London's Wild and Wicked Theatrical World. Henry Holt & Company, 2005.
Special Jury Prize:
Linda Ben-Zvi. Susan Glaspell: Her Life and Times. Oxford University Press, 2005.
2005
Rachel Shteir. Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Special Jury Prize:
Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik. Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2004.
2004
Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch. A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Special Jury Prize:
Ted Chapin. Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical 'Follies'. Alfred A .Knopf, 2003.
2003
David Kaufman. Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2002.
Special Jury Prize:
Dunbar H. Ogden. The Staging of Drama in the Medieval Church. University of Delaware Press, 2002.
2002
Meredith Chilton. Harlequin Unmasked: The Commedia Dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture. Yale University Press, 2001.
Honorable Mention:
Ron Jenkins. Dario Fo & Franca Rame: Artful Laughter. Aperture, 2001.
2001
Tracy C. Davis. The Economics of the British Stage, 1800-1914. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Honorable Mention:
Laurence Senelick. The Changing Room: Sex, Drag, and Theatre. Routledge, 2000.
Mel Gussow. Edward Albee: A Singular Journey, A Biography. Simon and Schuster, 1999.
Honorable Mention:
Al Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld on Line. Applause Books, 1999.
1999
Meryle Secrest. Stephen Sondheim: A Life. Knopf, 1998.
Honorable Mention:
Don B. Wilmeth and Christopher Bigsby (Editors). The Cambridge History of American Theatre: Volume One. Cambridge University Press, 1998.
1998
Gary Jay Williams. Our Moonlight Revels: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the Theatre. University of Iowa Press, 1997.
Honorable Mention:
Michael A. Morrison. John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
1997
James Knowlson. Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett. Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Honorable Mention:
Lys Symonette and Kim H. Kowalke (Editors). Speak Low (When You Speak Love): The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. University of California Press, 1996.
1996
Lyle Leverich. Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams. Crown, 1995.
Honorable Mention:
Claire Tomalin. Mrs. Jordan's Profession: The Actress and the Prince. Knopf, 1995.
1995
Faye E. Dudden. Women and the American Theatre: Actresses and Audiences, 1790-1870. Yale University Press, 1994.
Honorable Mention:
Simon Trussler. The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
1994
Rachel M. Brownstein. Tragic Muse: Rachel of the Comédie-Française. Knopf, 1993.
Honorable Mention:
Dennis Kennedy. Looking at Shakespeare: A Visual History of Twentieth-Century Performance. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
1993
Marvin Rosenberg. The Masks of Hamlet. University of Delaware Press, 1992.
Honorable Mention:
Elizabeth Howe. The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660-1700. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
1992
Robert C. Allen. Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture. University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
Honorable Mention:
Norris Houghton. Entrances and Exits: A Life In and Out of the Theatre. Limelight Editions, 1991.
1991
Virginia Scott. The Commedia dell 'Arte in Paris, 1644-1697. The University Press of Virginia, 1990.
Honorable Mention:
Margot Peters. The House of Barrymore. Knopf, 1990.
Martin Bauml Duberman. Paul Robeson: A Biography. Knopf, 1989.
Honorable Mention:
Marvin Carlson. Places of Performance: The Semiotics of Theatre Architecture. Cornell University Press, 1989.
1989
Laurence Senelick. The Age and Stage of George L. Fox. Tufts University Press, 1988.
Honorable Mention:
Richard Ellmann. Oscar Wilde. Knopf, 1988.
1988
Charles Shattuck. Shakespeare on the American Stage, Vol. II: From Booth and Barrett to Sothern and Marlowe. Folger Books, Associated University Press, 1987.
Honorable Mention:
Frank Rich and Lisa Aronson. The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson. Knopf, 1987.
1987
Mary C. Henderson. Theatre in America: Two Hundred Years of Plays, Players and Productions. Harry N. Abrams, 1986.
Honorable Mention:
Ricky Jay. Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women: Unique, Eccentric and Amazing Entertainers. Villard Books, 1986.
1986
Michael Meyer. Strindberg. Random House, 1985.
Honorable Mention:
Dennis Kennedy. Granville Barker and the Dream of Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 1985.
1985
Margot Peters. Mrs. Pat: The Life of Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Knopf, 1984.
Honorable Mention:
Ann Marie Koller. The Theatre Duke: George II of Saxe-Meininger and the German Stage. Stanford University Press, 1984.
1984
Martin Meisel. Realizations: Narrative Pictorial and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth Century England. Princeton University Press, 1983.
1983
J. C. Furnas. Fanny Kemble: Leading Lady of the Nineteenth Century Stage. Dial, 1982.
Honorable Mention:
Laurence Senelick. Gordon Craig's Moscow Hamlet: A Reconstruction. Greenwood Press, 1982.
1982
Margaret Brenman-Gibson. Clifford Odets: American Playwright, the Years from 1906 to 1940. Atheneum, 1981.
Honorable Mention:
Jonas Barish. The Anti-Theatrical Prejudice. University of California Press, 1981.
1981
Margot Peters. Bernard Shaw and the Actresses. Doubleday, 1980.
George Winchester Stone Jr. and George M. Kahrl. David Garrick: A Critical Biography. Southern Illinois University Press, 1979.
Honorable Mention:
Malcolm Goldstein. George S. Kaufman: His Life, His Theatre. Oxford University Press, 1979.
1979
Richard Altick. The Shows of London. Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1978.
Special Citation:
Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward Langhans. Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1978.
1978
George C. Izenour. Theatre Design. McGraw-Hill, 1977.
Honorable Mention:
Nahma Sandrow. Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theatre. Harper & Row, 1977.
1977
Gerald Kahan. Jacques Callot: Artist of the Theatre. University of Georgia Press.
Honorable Mention:
Charles Shattuck. Shakespeare on the American Stage: From the Hallams to Edwin Booth. Folger Books, 1976.
1976
Donald Oenslager. Stage Design: Four Centuries of Scenic Invention. Viking Press, 1975.
1975
Robert C. Toll. Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-Century America. Oxford University Press, 1974.
Honorable Mention:
John Wharton. Life Among the Playwrights: Being Mostly the Story of the Playwrights Producing Company, Inc. Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Company, 1974.
1974
Stephen Orgel and Roy Strong. Inigo Jones: The Theatre of the Stuart Court. The University of California Press, 1973.
Honorable Mention:
Richard Leacroft. The Development of the English Playhouse. Cornell University Press, 1973.
Honorable Mention:
Louis Sheaffer. O'Neill, Son and Artist. Little, Brown, 1973.
1973
John Houseman. Run-Through: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster, 1972.
Honorable Mention:
Marvin Rosenberg. The Masks of King Lear. University of California Press, 1972.
1972
James M. Symons. Meyerhold's Theatre of the Grotesque: The Post Revolutionary Productions, 1920-1932. University of Miami Press, 1971.
Honorable Mention:
Stanley Weintraub. Journey to Heartbreak: The Crucible Years of Bernard Shaw, 1914-1918. Weybright and Talley, 1971.
1971
Brooks Atkinson. Broadway. Macmillan, 1970.
Honorable Mention:
Joseph Leach. Bright Particular Star: The Life and Times of Charlotte Cushman. Yale University Press, 1970.
Charles Shattuck. The Hamlet of Edwin Booth. University of Illinois Press, 1969.
1969
Louis Sheaffer. O'Neill, Son and Playwright. Little, Brown, 1968.
Honorable Mention:
Edward Craig. Gordon Craig: The Story of His Life. Knopf, 1968.
Walter Volbach. Adolphe Appia, Prophet of the Modern Theatre. Wesleyan University Press, 1968.
Last updated: June 18, 2010