Jack Richardson is an American writer, known for his existentialist dramas of the early 1960s.

Richardson served in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. He then earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, and studied at the University of Munich. In 1960, his first play, The Prodigal, a retelling of the story of Orestes

Orestes

Orestes was the son of Agamemnon in Greek mythology; Orestes may also refer to:Drama*Orestes , by Euripides*Orestes, the character in Sophocles' tragedy Electra*Orestes, the character in Aeschylus' trilogy of tragedies, Oresteia...

, was produced Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 to critical acclaim, winning an Obie Award

Obie Award

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...

 and a Drama Desk Award

Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

. Gallows Humor, a 1961 combination of two short plays, was also well-received. Richardson's next two plays, Lorenzo (1963) and Xmas in Las Vegas (1965), were produced on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

, but were critical and commercial failures.

Since the 1960s, Richardson has written dramatic criticism and essays for the New York Times, New York Review of Books, Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

, and Commentary

Commentary (magazine)

Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...

, as well as two novels: The Prison Life of Harris Filmore (1965) and Memoir of a Gambler (1980).

Richardson's first marriage, to the author Anne Roiphe

Anne Roiphe

Anne Roiphe is an American writer and journalist. She is best-known as a first-generation feminist, and author of the novel Up The Sandbox , which was filmed as a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand in 1972. In 1996, Salon called the book "a feminist classic."-Background and education:Roiphe...

, ended in divorce. Richardson has since married Susan E. Morse

Susan E. Morse

Susan E. Morse is an American film editor with more than 30 film credits. She had a notable collaboration with director Woody Allen from 1977-1998...

, an academy-award nominated feature film editor. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607673/