A landmark member of our theatre community...and the world, has passed away
How remarkable that a lad born in the Bronx on March 28th 1920 should one day become one of the world’s most respected scholars and researchers of the life and writings of the famous playwright GB Shaw. Dan Laurence certainly came to his love of theatre naturally enough. Both of his parents were theatre professionals, even at one time including him in their vaudeville act when he was 12. He was a child actor for a number of years and then became stage manager for “Brighton Beach.’’ He later worked with well known stage performers such as Ethel Barrymore, Francis Lederer and Jane Cowl. He was the star of “Captain Brass Band’s Conversation”, which gave Dan his first role in a play written by George Bernard Shaw. Others he worked with were Florence Reed, Estelle Winwood, Buster Keaton, Canada Lee.
The next phase of his life, which lasted 41 months, was in the USAAF; 36 of those months took him out of the US, serving as a writer and performer for Armed Services Radio. His first assignment was in Australia were he met and fell in love with Fran. For several years thereafter he was assigned to a number of bases in the Pacific Islands and continued to serve as a writer and performer for the Armed Services Radio. He was shipped back to the US when the war ended, preventing him from returning to marry his sweetheart. His father promised him money to return to Australia if he would first finish the one semester he needed to graduate with a degree in English from Hoffstra University. With that accomplished, he returned to wed his love. She continued to live with her parents while they both worked to save money, so that they could set up a place of their own. The premature birth of their child occurred and both mother and child died before he could reach them.
Then NYU became his focus, as he worked on his Master’s degree serving as a graduate assistant, and later an associate professor of English. Other universities he taught included Indiana University, U of Texas, Penn State, Andrew Mellon, Dartmouth, and Tulane, and in Canada, Guelph and UBC. His passion for the writings of Shaw, through many years of study, became so well known that he was appointed literary and dramatic advisor for the estate of G B Shaw, a position he held from 1973-1990. His association with the Shaw Festival Ontario began in 1982 as literary advisor and member of the acting ensemble. He served as associate director from 1987-2000. He was elected president of the International Shaw Society in 2004, which held a special tribute to him that same year.
Throughout his academic life he wrote prodigiously, and the works were of true merit. Most acclaimed are his bibliographies of the works of Shaw, and Henry James, four volumes of “Collected Letters of Bernard Shaw”, 7 volumes of “Bernard Shaw’s Collected Plays with their Prefaces”.
Admiration for Maureen Halligan and Ronnie Ibbs, who headed the drama department at Incarnate Word College, drew him to San Antonio. He was a co-founder of OffStage, Inc. and appeared in productions with them and other theatres. His final performance was a play he wrote “G B S in Love”.
He died this morning Feb. 5th, at The Village at Incarnate Word Retirement Center .
The family would like any donations in Dan's memory to go to the Humane Society SPCA at 4804 Fredericksburg Rd. 78229 or San Antonio Public Library at 600 Soledad 78205 or the charity of the giver's choice.
A memorial will be planned for a later time.
