Robert Harling (writer)

Last updated

Robert M. Harling III
BornNovember 12, 1951 (1951-11-12) (age 72)
Years active1987–present

Robert M. Harling III (born November 12, 1951) is an American writer, producer and film director.

Contents

Biography

Early life

He was born in 1951 in Dothan, Alabama, one of three children of Robert M. Harling Jr (1923-2019) and Margaret Jones Harling (1923-2013). [1] [2] [3] [4] He graduated from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana and obtained a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. [3] [4] [5] While in law school, he sang in a band which performed in New Orleans on weekends. [4]

Career

However, Harling never used his legal education: skipping the bar exam, he instead moved to New York City to become an actor, auditioning for bit parts in plays and television commercials as well as working as a ticket seller for Broadway shows. [3] [4]

After the death of his younger sister, Susan, in 1985 due to diabetes, Harling wrote a short story and adapted it into the play Steel Magnolias , [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] which was produced off-Broadway in 1987 to great acclaim and was translated into 17 languages. [4]

Harling also wrote the screenplay for the film version of the play that was produced in 1989. [8] [9] [10] [11] He played a small role in the film as a minister. [8]

Harling wrote more screenplays: Soapdish (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), and Laws of Attraction (2004); he also worked as an uncredited script doctor on a number of films. Harling also wrote and directed the sequel to Terms of Endearment titled The Evening Star (1996). [5] [8] [12]

In the spring of 2012, he served as writer and producer of the TV show GCB . [5] [8] [11] In the same year, it was reported that Harling was adapting Soapdish into a musical. [5] [13]

Personal life

He is Presbyterian and openly gay. [7] [13] He owns the Oaklawn Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana. [14] [15]

Filmography

Writer

Producer

Director

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Natchitoches Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,515. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Natchitoches, the largest by land area is Ashland, and the most density populated area is Campti. The parish was formed in 1805.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natchitoches, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, United States

Natchitoches, officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 18,039. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the indigenous Natchitoches people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsha Mason</span> American actress

Marsha Mason is an American actress and theatre director. She has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Goodbye Girl (1977), Chapter Two (1979), and Only When I Laugh (1981). The first two also won her Golden Globe Awards. She was married for ten years (1973–1983) to the playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, who was the writer of three of these films.

<i>Steel Magnolias</i> 1989 film by Herbert Ross

Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts. The screenplay by Robert Harling is based on his 1987 play of the same name about the bond a group of women share in a small-town Southern community, and how they cope with the death of one of their own. The supporting cast features Tom Skerritt, Dylan McDermott, Kevin J. O'Connor, and Sam Shepard.

Andrew Bergman is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. His best-known films include Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, The Freshman and Striptease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cane River Creole National Historical Park</span> National Historical Park of the United States

Established in 1994, the Cane River Creole National Historical Park serves to preserve the resources and cultural landscapes of the Cane River region in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Located along the Cane River Lake, the park is approximately 63 acres and includes two French Creole cotton plantations, Oakland and Magnolia. Both plantations are complete in their historic settings, including landscapes, outbuildings, structures, furnishings, and artifacts; and they are the most intact French Creole cotton plantations in the United States. In total, 65 historic structures and over a million artifacts enhance the National Park Service mission as it strives to tell the story of the evolution of plantation agriculture through the perspective of the land owners, enslaved workers, overseers, skilled workers, and tenant farmers who resided along the Cane River for over two hundred years. This park is included as a site on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

<i>Soapdish</i> 1991 film by Michael Hoffman

Soapdish is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman, from a screenplay by Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman. The film was produced by Aaron Spelling and Alan Greisman, and executive produced by Herbert Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clementine Hunter</span> American painter

Clementine Hunter was a self-taught Black folk artist from the Cane River region of Louisiana, who lived and worked on Melrose Plantation.

<i>Broadway Bill</i> 1934 film by Frank Capra

Broadway Bill is a 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy. Screenplay by Robert Riskin and based on the short story "Strictly Confidential" by Mark Hellinger, the film is about a man's love for his thoroughbred race horse and the woman who helps him achieve his dreams. Capra disliked the final product, and in an effort to make it more to his liking, he remade the film in 1950 as Riding High. In later years, the distributor of Riding High, Paramount Pictures, acquired the rights to Broadway Bill. The film was released in the United Kingdom as Strictly Confidential.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Baker</span> American politician

Joshua Gabriel Baker was the 22nd Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction.

Daniel Taradash was an American screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natchitoches Christmas Festival</span>

The Natchitoches Christmas Festival is held annually in Natchitoches, Louisiana on the first weekend in December.

Gene Callahan was an American art director as well as set and production designer who contributed to over fifty films and more than a thousand TV episodes. He received nominations for the British Academy Film Award and four Oscars, including two wins.

<i>Steel Magnolias</i> (play) 1987 play by Robert Harling

Steel Magnolias is a stage play by American writer Robert Harling, based on his experience with his sister's death. The play is a comedy-drama about the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana.

<i>Something for the Boys</i> (film) 1944 film by Lewis Seiler

Something for the Boys is a 1944 musical comedy film directed by Lewis Seiler. It stars Carmen Miranda, Michael O'Shea, Vivian Blaine, Phil Silvers, Sheila Ryan and Perry Como.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oaklawn Plantation (Natchez, Louisiana)</span> Historic house in Louisiana, United States

The Oaklawn Plantation is a historic cotton plantation house in Natchitoches, Louisiana. It is located on the Louisiana Highway 494 east of Natchitoches in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 28, 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee Plantation (Natchez, Louisiana)</span> Historic house in Louisiana, United States

Cherokee Plantation, also known as Emile Sompayrac Place and Murphy Place, is a former plantation and historic plantation house located in Natchez, Louisiana, near the city of Natchitoches. For many years this site was worked and maintained by enslaved African Americans. This location was part of the Côte Joyeuse area which was home to the earliest French planters in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle Brevelle</span> American Creole settlement in Louisiana

Isle Brevelle is an ethnically and culturally diverse community, which began as a Native American and Louisiana Creole settlement and is located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. For many years this area was known as Côte Joyeuse. It is considered the birthplace of Creole culture and remains the epicenter of Creole art and literature blending European, African, and Native American cultures. It is home to the Cane River Creole National Historical Park and part of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

Bayou Brevelle is a series of interconnected, natural waterways totaling over 18 miles in length in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Its main channel is at Old River and Kisatchie Bayou at Montrose to Natchez near the Cane River. During heavy rains or floods, Bayou Brevelle joins the Cane River. The bayou is flanked by Interstate 49 on the west and the Cane River on the east, and is one of the many waterways on Isle Brevelle.

References

  1. Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home, Obituary: Margaret Jones Harling, Margaret Jones Harling Obituary
  2. "Robert Harling - Alliance Theatre". alliancetheatre.org.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kim Hubbard, Robert Harling, Author of a Hit Comedy Based on a Family Tragedy, People, Vol. 29, No. 3, January 25, 1988
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Julia Reed, The Interview: Robert Harling, Garden & Gun, December 2012 – January 2013
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Brooks Barnes, Sweet Tea and Tart Women, The New York Times, February 29, 2012
  6. Anne McCracken, Mary Semel, A broken heart still beats: after your child dies, Hazelden Publishing, 2000, p. 87
  7. 1 2 Jeremy Kinser, Steel Magnolias Back in Bloom, The Advocate, October 25, 2012
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Robert Harling". IMDb.
  9. Karen Hollinger, In the company of women: contemporary female friendship films, Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1998, p. 75
  10. Tara McPherson, Reconstructing Dixie: Race, Gender, and Nostalgia in the Imagined South, Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2003, p. 159
  11. 1 2 Tanner Transky, Robert Harling: The Man Who Loves Women, Entertainment Weekly, April 13, 2012
  12. Peter C. Rollins, The Columbia companion to American history on film, New York City: Columbia University Press, 2007 p. 494
  13. 1 2 Lisa Rosen, Robert Harling, Darren Star breathe life into 'GCB', The Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2012
  14. Foundation, Joyous Coast (April 1, 2003). Natchitoches. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7385-1499-4 via Google Books.
  15. "Oaklawn Plantation--Cane River National Heritage Area: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary". www.nps.gov.