Eric Bentley

Eric Bentley loved the stage. He was a writer and a singer. He wrote many books about plays. He also translated plays into English. This helped more people read them.

Eric was a teacher at a big school. He taught many students about drama. He was a critic, too. He wrote what he thought about plays.

He sang songs on records for people to hear. He was a very smart man. He lived to be 103 years old. He was a legend in the theater.

Eric Bentley was a man of many talents. He was born in Bolton, England. Later, he moved to the United States. He loved the world of theater. Eric was a playwright who wrote his own plays. He was also a critic. A critic is a person who writes reviews. He shared his honest thoughts on plays. Some famous writers even sued him because of his reviews!

Eric was a great teacher. He taught at Columbia University and Harvard University. He also studied at Oxford and Yale. He was a very big expert on Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a famous writer. Eric translated Brecht's work into English. He even recorded albums of Brecht's songs. This helped people hear the music in their own language.

Eric was a very brave man. In 1968, he joined a protest against a war. He refused to pay certain taxes to show his views. He also spoke openly about being gay. This part of his life helped him write his plays. He won many awards for his work. One was an Obie Award for his life in theater. He lived to be 103 years old.

Eric Bentley was a man who lived many different lives in the world of art. He was a playwright who wrote plays for the stage. He was also a theater critic who wrote reviews about shows. A critic tells people what they think of a performance. Bentley was known for being very blunt with his opinions. He did not hold back his thoughts, even when they were tough. This honesty earned him respect, but it also caused some trouble. Famous writers like Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller even threatened to sue him.

Bentley spent much of his life helping others understand great art. He was a world expert on a writer named Bertolt Brecht. Bentley met Brecht when he was a young man in California. He worked hard to translate Brecht's plays into the English language. This allowed more people to read and perform these famous stories. He even recorded two albums of Brecht's songs for Folkways Records. Most of these songs had never been heard in English before. He wanted the music and the words to reach new ears.

His journey through learning began in England. He was born in Bolton, Lancashire, to Fred and Laura Evelyn Bentley. He went to University College, Oxford, to study English. There, he had famous teachers like J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Later, he moved to the United States to attend Yale University. He earned a PhD there in 1941 and won the John Addison Porter Prize. He became an American citizen in 1948 and lived in New York City.

Bentley was a busy teacher and a very active citizen. He taught drama at Black Mountain College and Columbia University. He also served as a professor at Harvard University from 1960 to 1961. In 1968, he joined a protest against the Vietnam War. He signed a pledge to refuse certain tax payments to show his views. In 1969, he also chose to make his homosexuality public. This was a brave step that influenced his writing, like his play Lord Alfred's Lover.

His many talents earned him many special honors. In 1998, he was put into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He was also part of the New York Theater Hall of Fame for his cabaret singing. He won an Obie Award for his lifetime work in 2006. He also received a Robert Chesley Award in 2007. Bentley lived a very long and full life. He turned 100 years old in 2016 and lived until he was 103. He died in Manhattan in August of 2020.

Eric Bentley was a versatile figure in the twentieth-century world of performing arts. He worked as a theater critic, playwright, singer, editor, and translator. As a critic, he provided professional opinions on stage performances for publications like The New Republic. As a playwright, he created original scripts for the theater. He also used his voice to record music, specifically songs by famous composers. His many roles allowed him to shape how audiences understood and experienced drama.

Bentley was particularly famous for his approach to theater criticism. He utilized a blunt style, meaning he was very direct and honest in his reviews. This lack of hesitation often led to professional tension. For example, famous playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller both threatened him with lawsuits. They did this because his reviews of their work were unfavorable. Despite these conflicts, his directness remained a core part of his professional identity.

One of Bentley's most significant contributions involved the work of Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a major German dramatist whom Bentley met at the University of California, Los Angeles. Bentley became a preeminent expert on Brecht's complex body of work. He translated many of Brecht's plays into English so they could be performed globally. He also edited the Grove Press issue of Brecht's writings. To further share this art, Bentley recorded two albums of Brecht's songs for Folkways Records. Most of these songs had never been recorded in English before his work.

Bentley's academic journey began in his birthplace of Bolton, Lancashire. He was the son of Fred and Laura Evelyn Bentley. He attended University College, Oxford, where he studied English and graduated in 1938. During his time there, he was taught by notable figures J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. He later moved to the United States to attend Yale University. He earned a B. Litt. in 1939 and a PhD in 1941. At Yale, he was honored with the John Addison Porter Prize.

His career included many prestigious teaching positions and civic actions. He taught History and Drama at Black Mountain College from 1942 to 1944. Later, he taught at Columbia University starting in 1953. He also served as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard University from 1960 to 1961. Bentley was also an active political participant. In 1968, he signed the Writers and Editors War Tax Protest pledge. This was a vow to refuse tax payments to protest the Vietnam War.

In 1969, Bentley made his homosexuality public, a decision that influenced his later creative output. He noted that his identity shaped his theater work, such as his play Lord Alfred's Lover. This play was based on the life of Oscar Wilde. His personal courage and professional dedication earned him several high honors. In 1969, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1998.

Bentley's influence extended through various theatrical productions and awards. His play, The Red, White, and Black, was produced at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1971. This was a collaboration with the Columbia University School of the Arts Theatre Division. His translations also saw success, such as the production of Good Woman of Setzuan. This show was directed by Andrei Serban at La MaMa in 1975, 1976, and 1978. The Great Jones Repertory Company even took the production on a European tour in 1976.

In his final years, Bentley received recognition for a lifetime of service to the arts. He won an Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre in 2006. He also received a Robert Chesley Award in 2007. Bentley became an American citizen in 1948 and lived in Manhattan for many years. He reached the milestone of 100 years old on September 14, 2016. He passed away on August 5, 2020, at the age of 103. His legacy remains tied to the critical and creative growth of modern theater.