Irv Bauer

Irv Bauer also known as Irvin S. Bauer was an American playwright, screenwriter, educator and theatre critic based in New York. He was most known for his plays A Dream Out of Time, A Fine and Private Place and Bulldog and The Bear. He also wrote multiple episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Irv Bauer
DiedJuly 24, 2015
Other namesIrvin S. Bauer
Known forCourage the Cowardly Dog
Notable work
A Dream Out of Time
A Fine and Private Place
Bulldog and The Bear
Websiteirvbauerscreenwriting.com

Bauer taught at graduate and undergraduate levels at New York University, Sarah Lawrence College and University of Washington. He died of lymphoma on July 24, 2015.[1]

Early life and education

Bauer went to DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, and then enrolled in New York University, earning a bachelor's degree in Journalism. While there he studied with and was mentored by Haig P. Manoogian.[2]

Career

Upon graduation, Bauer started working in public relations at Grey Advertising. Soon afterwards, he left New York for Paris, France to pursue a career in dramatic writing and cinema. In Paris, he started working as an actor and began writing. He came back to New York to secure financing for a project with Philippe Gérard.[3] In 1970, his first play, A Dream Out of Time starring Sam Levene, who made his Off-Broadway debut at the Promenade Theatre on upper Broadway, 43 years after he made his Broadway debut in 1927. In Seattle, A Fine and Private Place, an adaptation of a novel by Peter S. Beagle.[4] Among other popular plays by Bauer are Bullies House[2] Rollin on the Toba,[5] and Young and Eager.[6] Bauer wrote The Ladies' Tailor of Babi Yar, first presented by the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ, a story of a Jewish and a Russian family set against the backdrop of Babi Yar Massacres.[7]

Bauer taught screenwriting and playwrighting at the graduate and undergraduate level at New York University, Sarah Lawrence College and University of Washington. He conducted workshops and classes in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Spoleto, Italy, London and Sydney and Brisbane.[8] Bauer also taught at The Juilliard School and University of Washington.[3][9]

Written just prior to his death in July 2015, Bauer's book Screenwriting Fundamentals: The Art and Craft of Visual Writing was published by Routledge in 2016. It details his ten step method to developing and constructing a screenplay.[10]

Plays
Title Notes
A Dream Out of Time Starring Sam Levene, directed by Paul Aaron
Bulldog and The Bear with Richard Gordon, Boar's Head, Lansing, Michigan
Rollin' on the Toba with Smokey Stevens, Studio 54, (Broadway)
Bullie's House with Thomas Keneally, Long Wharf, New Haven
A Fine and Private Place based on a novel by Peter Beagle, Seattle Playhouse.
Young and Eager Square Playhouse, NYU
The Ladies' Tailor of Babi Yar first presented by the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ
Bread of Heaven not yet produced
Cock of the Walk not yet produced
The Butcher of Clamart with Philippe Gérard

Television and film
Title Notes
Courage the Cowardly Dog Writer: 16 episodes, Senior Story Consultant: 144 episodes
Bonkers Disney
Mengele Screenplay
Captain of Paradise Screenplay
The Elephant is Well Screenplay
High Octane Screenplay
Iceberg Slim Screenplay
Jazzbo Screenplay

Critical reception

While writing about Bauer's first play, A Dream Out of Time, Clive Barnes wrote for The New York Times, that "although it may not be flawless, it is strong, honest and serious. It has something of Arthur Miller's intensity and thrust to it and also a great deal of integrity and moral concern."[11] The Wheaton Bill wrote, "We feel certain that any Jew could relate to the happenings on the stage,"[12] and the Toronto Star wrote "beyond understanding the tug of family, the unwitting destructiveness of which parents are capable, the hesitations of children about deviating from a traditional life-style, Bauer gives his people language bristling with drive, distinctiveness and the rough force of reality."[13]

In 1975, The Seattle Times wrote that A Fine and Private Place "is a theatre piece of interest and merit. Although, the play is set in a cemetery, the play concerns itself not with death but with life."[14] In 1998, Bauer wrote the play Bull Dog and The Bear with Richard Gordon, that received positive reviews with the Lansing State Journal writing that, "Sensitive, serious, silly and hilarious, the play should enjoy many more standing ovations in years to come."[15]

References
  1. Irvin Bauer
  2. "STAGE: 'BULLIE'S HOUSE,' AUSTRALIAN METAPHYSICS". New York Times. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  3. "Another World Premiere at The Boarshead". Capital Times. 1988.
  4. "Author Here for Premier of Play". The Seattle Times. August 6, 1975.
  5. Jones, Kenneth; Lefkowitz, David. "Rollin' on the T.O.B.A. First Preview at Kit Kat Klub Scratched". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  6. Bauer, Irv. "The Rewriting of Young and Eager". WestView News. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. "The Ladies' Tailor of Babi Yar". Holocaust Theatre Catalogue. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  8. "Playwright Lauds the Aussie Way". The Courier Mail. April 21, 1976.
  9. "Quando lo sceneggiatore americano vibra di passione italiana! Intervista ad Irv Bauer". ItalNews. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  10. "Screenwriting Fundamentals".
  11. "Theater: An Intense 'Dream Out of Time' Opens" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  12. "Bauer Play". The Wheaton Bill. February 24, 1972.
  13. "A Broadway Play With an Author Who is Honest". Toronto Daily Star. February 4, 1971.
  14. "U.W. Does Well With New Play". The Seattle Times. August 12, 1975.
  15. "Bear, Pup Tale Play Deserves Accolades". Lansing State Journal. March 26, 1988.
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