Lawrence Holofcener

{{Infobox artist

| name = Lawrence Holofcener

| image =

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| birth_date = February 23, 1926

| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, United States

| death_date = March 4, 2017 (aged 91)

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| nationality = American and British

| field = Sculpture

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| spouse = {{marriage|Carol Shapiro|1954|1968|end=divorce}}
Julia Cornforth

| children = 2, including Nicole Holofcener

| website = http://www.holofcener.com

}}

Lawrence Holofcener (February 23, 1926 – March 4, 2017) was an American-British sculptor, poet, lyricist, playwright, novelist, actor and director. He held British and American dual citizenship.{{cite web |title=Penn, Tyndale and Chatterton by Lawrence Holofcener |url=http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/williampenn.html |publisher=at-bristol.org.uk |accessdate=11 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203233456/https://www.at-bristol.org.uk/williampenn.html |archivedate=3 December 2010 }}

Early life

Holofcener was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Edward A. and Lillian S. (Stulman) Holofcener.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} He attended University of Maryland and the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he met and performed with Jerry Bock.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/theater/04bock.html |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Jerry Bock, 'Fiddler on the Roof' Composer, Dies at 81 |first=Robert |last=Berkvist |date=November 3, 2010 }} They went on to write songs for Big as Life and Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner. They wrote the Broadway stage scores for Mr. Wonderful and Catch a Star.{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to American Theatre|editor-last=Bordman|editor-first=Gerald|editor2-last=Hischak|editor2-first=Thomas|year=2004|pages=696|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-516986-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DiI1wIyatvUC&pg=PA81 |accessdate=12 December 2010}} He joined ASCAP in 1956, his other popular-song compositions include "Without You I'm Nothing", "Raining, It's Raining", "Too Close for Comfort"{{cite book|title=The Soundtracks of Woody Allen: A Complete Guide to the Songs and Music in Every Film, 1969-2005|editor-last=Harvey|editor-first=Adam|publisher=McFarland|year=2007|pages=228|isbn=978-0-7864-2968-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5WIT9aA1A8C&pg=PA72 |accessdate=12 December 2010}} and "The Story of Alice" which was recorded by the Chad Mitchell Trio. His play Before You Go{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841203,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029060816/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841203,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2010 |newspaper=Time |title=Theater: Before You Go |date=January 19, 1968 |accessdate=11 December 2010 }} began on Broadway and has been produced in regional theaters in the United Kingdom, Paris, Sweden, and Mexico City.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQpmXO0bX-gC&q=lawrence+holofcener|title=Before You Go|editor-last=Holofcener|editor-first=Lawrence|publisher=Samuel French, Inc.|year=1968|isbn=9780573605949|accessdate=12 December 2010}} His musical play I Don't Live There Anymore, written with composer Gerard Kenny, received its American premiere at the 1993 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.

Acting work

His acting career began in a nightclub revue in New York at the Upstairs at the Downstairs. His first theater job was in Stop the World – I Want to Get Off on Broadway. Next, in 1964, he played Cornelius in Hello, Dolly!, first with Carol Channing, then Ginger Rogers. He appeared in the 1981 TV Movie Thin Ice{{cite web|title=Internet Movie Database|website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083191/}} (starring Kate Jackson), as well as Walking and Talking,{{cite web|title=Internet Movie Database|website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118113/awards}} written and directed by his daughter, Nicole Holofcener.

Writing

Holofcener also pursued a literary career. In 1960, he compiled and edited A Practical Dictionary of Rhymes for Crown Publishers.{{cite book|title=librarything|url=http://www.librarything.com/work/5263919|accessdate=12 December 2010}} He also wrote Day of Change in 1976.{{cite web|title=dayofchange|url=http://www.dayofchange.net|accessdate=12 December 2010}} Britishisms, his British-English dictionary was first published in 1981.{{cite web|title=wightonline |url=http://www.wightonline.co.uk/wightonline/wightonline_pages/britishisms.html|accessdate=12 December 2010}}

Sculpting work

File:Special Relationship? (geograph 4125450).jpg and Franklin D. Roosevelt, New Bond Street, London]]

Holofcener's first exhibition was in 1979 at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina. It was followed by many shows, awards and commissions. During his exhibition at AT&T's Education Center in Princeton, New Jersey, Lawrence produced The Box, a piece which was added to their collection.{{cite web|url=http://www.marypenley.com/artists/artist.php?artistid=2|title=Lawrence Holofcener|publisher=Mary Penley.com|accessdate=12 December 2010}}

In 1985 at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Laurence Olivier unveiled Holofcener's portrait, "Faces of Olivier", and ten years later to the day on Bond Street in London, Princess Margaret unveiled his portraits of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.{{cite book|title=Discovering London Statues and Monuments|editor-last=Baker|editor-first=Margaret|year=2008|publisher=Shire|pages=128|isbn=978-0-7478-0495-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pVJLa5jgzQ4C&pg=PA62 |accessdate=12 December 2010}} "Allies" has fast become one of London's tourist attractions.{{cite web|title=london travel tips|url=http://www.london-traveltips.com/bond-street.htm|accessdate=12 December 2010}} Commissions include Queen Victoria for the Isle of Wight's Museum of Island History and Coburg, Germany, as well as a life-size bronze of Thomas Paine at Bordentown, New Jersey.{{cite web|title=mindspring|url=http://home.mindspring.com/~phila1/botown.htm|accessdate=12 December 2010}}{{cite book|title=New Jersey: A Guide to the State|editor-last=Westergaard|editor-first=Barbara|year=2006|pages=446|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=0-8135-3685-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ww7BJbdR4lEC&pg=PA35 |accessdate=12 December 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thomaspainefriends.org/historical-places.htm|title=Lasting Monuments to Paine's Life and Accomplishments|publisher=ThomasPaineFriends.org|accessdate=12 December 2010}}

Other life-size portraits of Thomas Chatterton, William Tyndale and William Penn are in Bristol, England. In 1998, Holofcener embarked on a major series celebrating the contributions made by 20th Century icons, among them Albert Einstein, John F Kennedy, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, Mahatma Gandhi, Anne Frank, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonard Bernstein, Albert Schweitzer, the Three Tenors and John Lennon.{{cite news|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-10-04/news/os-lk-art-events-100410-20101004_1_art-stroll-art-and-artists-sculpture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915014810/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-10-04/news/os-lk-art-events-100410-20101004_1_art-stroll-art-and-artists-sculpture |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 September 2012 |title=Art Stroll ends with sculpture unveiling |date=4 October 2010 |first=Debbie |last=Manis |accessdate=11 December 2010}}{{cite web|title=ASCAP|url=http://www.ascap.com/playback/2010/11/action/ManManyTalents.aspx|date=23 November 2010|accessdate=11 December 2010}}

Personal life and death

Holofcener was married twice, first to Carol Joffe, with whom he has two daughters, Suzanne Holofcener and director Nicole Holofcener.{{Cite web|last=Rochlin |first=Margy |authorlink= |title= FILM; Just Like Her Family: Complicated |work=New York Times|date=June 23, 2002 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/23/movies/film-just-like-her-family-complicated.html |accessdate=}} They divorced in 1961. He later married Julia Cornforth.{{Cite web|last= |first= |authorlink= |title= Mr Lawrence Holofcener - Former Cowes and Ventnor resident — actor, lyricist and sculptor, Lawrence Holofcener, died on March 4, aged 91|publisher=Isle of Wight County Press|date=April 7, 2017 |url= http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/obituaries/mr-lawrence-holofcener-98243.aspx |accessdate=}}

He died in March 2017 at the age of 91.{{cite web|url=http://www.stratford-herald.com/67267-young-will-sculptor-dies.html|title=Young Will sculptor dies - Stratford Herald|first=Gill|last=Sutherland|date=9 March 2017|publisher=|accessdate=3 September 2017}}