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John Glennon (born 1931) is an American stage actor, writer, screenwriter, and playwright. [1]
| The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies .(April 2024) |
John Glennon (born 1931) is an American stage actor, writer, screenwriter, and playwright. [1]
As an actor, his notable Broadway credits include roles in productions of Saint Joan, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Richard III, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Taming of the Shrew, and King Richard II , and he was stage manager on How to Be a Jewish Mother . [2] [3]
Glennon sold his first script to CBC in 1957, when he was performing in Saint Joan on Broadway. [4]
He is known for his television writing credits on Armchair Mystery Theatre , Armchair Theatre , Ruth [5] and Rope (both 1959) [6] [7] , ITV Play of the Week (from 1957 - 1961), Playdate, BBC Sunday-Night Play, and Encounter .
He travelled to Melbourne on 8 August 1959 to present two plays for GTV-9, starting with Ruth, which was a part of Shell Presents and directed by Rod Kinnear . He was also to help coach Australian writers and producers on US drama techniques. [8] The producers wanted Lyndall Barbour to play the lead. She was tracked down to a hotel room in Paris and John Glennon travelled from London to persuade her to accept the part. He also co-starred in the production. The play was produced in Melbourne at the GTV 9 studios. [9] [10] [11] While rehearsing it Glennon said he was working on a play about Australians in London. [12] The TV critic from the Sydney Morning Herald called it "a highly original and diverting play" where Glennon's writing was "in an attractively inventive and individual way that sometimes shades into the eccentric". [13] Another version aired as a BBC Sunday-Night Play in 1962, starring Constance Cummings, again written by John Glennon, and this time directed by Henry Kaplan." [14]
Rope was the other 1959 Australian TV play he wrote and starred in, also part of Shell Presents and again directed by Kinnear, based on the play by Patrick Hamilton. Glennon played one of the lead roles. [15] [16] Glennon made several changes to the play, including cutting the time down from two hours to an hour, shifting the action from 1929 to present day New York, and moving the local from one-room to a four-room penthouse. "Whereas the original dealt with distance," said Glennon, "you can now eliminate long speeches and convey the same idea by gesture or by a bit of business magnified a hundred fold by that eagle eyed camera." [17] The Sydney Morning Herald critic praised "John Glennon' s clever, perceptive and highly mannered performance... and the tensions which producer Rod Kinnear was able to generate by some thoughtful camera work, and some very skilful organisation on a large and attractive set." [2] The Age TV credit praised the set, credit sequence and some of the acting but had reservations about some of the performances and the direction. [1]
Rope is a length of fibers that are twisted or braided together
The Shifting Heart is a play written in 1957 in Australia by Richard Beynon, it is an insight to the psychology of racism and its victims. In the background of 1950s Collingwood, Melbourne.
Black Chiffon is a play in two acts written by Lesley Storm. Starring Flora Robson, the play premiered at the Westminster Theatre in London's West End on 3 May 1949, running for over 400 performances. The play debuted on Broadway on 27 September 1950 and ran until 13 January 1951, totalling 109 performances. That production starred Janet Barrow (Nannie), Richard Gale, Patricia Hicks (Louise), Raymond Huntley, Anthony Ireland, Patricia Marmont (Thea), and Flora Robson, and was produced by John Wildberg.
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a 1959 Australian-British film directed by Leslie Norman and is based on the Ray Lawler play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. In the United States the film was released under the title Season of Passion.
The One Day of the Year is a 1958 Australian play by Alan Seymour about contested attitudes to Anzac Day.
Shell Presents was an early attempt at Australian television drama, being an umbrella title for several different productions. It debuted on 4 April 1959, and aired on ATN-7 and GTV-9, who split production of plays for the series between them. It was an anthology series, each program being a self-contained play for television. The series won a Logie award in 1960 for TV Highlight of 1959. As the title suggests, it was sponsored by Shell. It was described as "a very big deal for the station: major institutional sponsorship from international companies for locally produced drama." It would be followed by The General Motors Hour.
"They Were Big, They Were Blue, They Were Beautiful" is an Australian television movie, or rather a live television play, which aired live on 27 June 1959 in Sydney, and on 8 August 1959 in Melbourne. It aired as part of Shell Presents, a monthly presentation of standalone productions which aired from 1959 to 1960 on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne.
"The Big Day" is an Australian television film, or rather a live television play, which aired in 1959. The fifth episode of the Shell Presents presentations of standalone television dramas, it originally aired 11 July 1959 on Melbourne station GTV-9, a video-tape was made of the broadcast and shown on Sydney station ATN-7 on 25 July 1959.
Killer in Close-Up was a blanket title covering four live television drama plays produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1957 and 1958. It could be seen as the first anthology series produced for Australian television.
"Manhaul" is a 1962 Australian television film. It aired 8 September 1962 as part of The General Motors Hour, an occasional series which presented various one-off productions. It aired on 8 September 1962 on ATN-7 in Sydney, on 8 September 1962 on GTV-9 in Melbourne, and on 15 September 1962 on QTQ-9 in Brisbane, despite the two stations having severed their relationship with the formation of the Nine Network.
Rope is a 1957 Australian television film based on the play Rope by Patrick Hamilton. It was presented in real time.
Venus Observed is a play in blank verse by the English dramatist and poet Christopher Fry. The play concerns a Duke who decides to remarry for a third time. He gets his son Edgar to pick the bride. The Duke likes Perpetua but Edgar wants her for himself.
Swamp Creatures is a play by the Australian author Alan Seymour. He wrote it for radio, stage and TV. It was Seymour's first produced play.
The Duke in Darkness is a 1942 play by Patrick Hamilton. A psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion, it was first staged on 7 September 1942 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. It ran for 72 performances at the St. James Theatre, London, and had a brief run on Broadway in 1944.
"Rope" is a 1959 Australian TV play based on the play by Patrick Hamilton. It was part of Shell Presents. It aired on 31 October 1959 in Melbourne, and a tapped version aired on 15 November 1959 in Sydney.
Rodney Scott Kinnear was an Australian director, best known for his work in TV.
"The Concert" is a 1961 Australian TV GTV-9's Melbourne studios. It was directed by Rod Kinnear. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. The episode aired on 3 June 1961 in Melbourne, and on 10 June 1961 in Brisbane.
"Ruth" is a 1959 Australian television play. It was presented as part of the Shell Presents program and starred Lyndall Barbour. It was written by John Glennon, an American actor and writer who appeared in the production, and directed by Rod Kinnear. The play aired in Melbourne on 5 September 1959 and in Sydney on 19 September 1959.
"You, Too, Can Have a Body" is a 1960 Australian television play that screened as part of The General Motors Hour.