Terrence McNally

Terrence McNally (1938-2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and LGBTQ+ trailblazer, described by The New York Times as “the bard of the American Theater.”

One of the few playwrights of his generation to successfully pass from the avantgarde to mainstream acclaim, McNally redefined American playwriting for six decades and was the recipient of five Tony Awards (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, and the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement).

He received the 2011 Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (Vice President of the Guild from 1981 to 2001), the 2015 Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award, and inductions into the American Theater Hall of Fame (1996) and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2018).

McNally’s legacy lives on through his final creative act— the Terrence McNally Foundation—which champions early career playwrights and LGBTQ+ causes, as McNally did throughout his life.