Ray Lawler

{{Infobox writer

| name = Ray Lawler

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO|OBE|size=100%}}

| image =

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1921|05|23}}

| birth_name = Raymond Evenor Lawler

| birth_place = Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2024|7|24|1921|05|23}}

| death_place = Melbourne, Australia

| occupation = {{hlist|Playwright|dramatist|actor|director|producer}}

| alma_mater =

| notableworks = {{ublist|class=nowrap |Summer of the Seventeenth Doll}} (1953)

| awards =

| spouse = {{marriage|Jacklyn Kelleher|1956}}

| children = 3

| relatives =

| religion =

| signature =

}}

File:Ray Lawler plaque in Sydney Writers Walk.jpg

Raymond Evenor Lawler {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AO|OBE}} (23 May 1921 – 24 July 2024) was an Australian playwright and dramatist, actor, theatre producer and director.

Lawler's most notable play was his tenth, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1953), which had its premiere in Melbourne in 1955. The play was notable for changing the direction of Australian drama, considered one of the greatest of the 20th century, it was adapted to a film in 1959, starring Angela Lansbury and Ernest Borgnine.[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9047408/Ray-Lawler "Ray Lawler." Encyclopædia Britannica.] retrieved 8 December 2006 The story of The Doll is preceded by Kid's Stakes, set in 1937, when the characters of The Doll are young adults, and then Other Times, which is set in 1945 and includes most of the same characters.

Early life

Lawler was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray on 23 May 1921, second of eight children of a council worker. He left school at 13 to work in a factory and attended evening acting classes. He wrote his first play at 19, and his play Hal's Belles had good notices in early 1946. It was described as "...easy to stage and is a slick, finished work", then being offered by J. and N. Tait in London and New York.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95579977 "Melbourne Letter." Kalgoorlie Miner. 1 January, 1946.] Retrieved 27 January 2013.

Career

He first attracted attention as a writer in 1952 when his play Cradle of Thunder was presented by the National Theatre Competition. In 1955, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll gained first prize in the Playwright Advisory Board Competition with Oriel Gray’s The Torrents and was subsequently presented by the Union Theatre. Lawler played the role of Barney at the premiere of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll in 1955.{{IBDB name|id=8256}} The play was taken up by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust and presented in all Australian states as well as London and New York. It won the Evening Standard Award for the best new play on the London stage in 1957.{{Cite web |last=Cuthbertson |first=Debbie |date=2024-07-26 |title=Summer of the Seventeenth Doll playwright Ray Lawler dies aged 103 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/summer-of-the-seventeenth-doll-playwright-ray-lawler-dies-aged-103-20240726-p5jwxw.html |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=The Age |language=en}}{{cn|date=July 2024}} Since then it has been translated into many languages and performed in many countries. It was also filmed in 1959.{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|date=27 February 2025|access-date=27 February 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/wrecking-australian-stories-summer-of-the-seventeenth-doll/?fbclid=IwY2xjawItNeFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdfjoDKKNPRwIUw_CpwHxvsx-Nwe0Ux0vs54ici1NORlcxM0tGnZAIlpIg_aem_B57Gkzk7qzqgKn0YaklBwA|title=Wrecking Australian stories: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll}}

Lawler went to London with the cast and lived in Denmark, England, and Ireland. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was followed by The Piccadilly Bushman (1959), presented in Australia by J. C. Williamson’s and published by Angus & Robertson (1961); The Unshaven Cheek, presented at the 1963 Edinburgh International Festival; and A Breach in the Wall, about St Thomas Becket (televised in 1967,{{IMDb title|0437881|A Breach in the Wall (1967)}} produced at Canterbury in 1970).

In 1969, he adapted and dramatised the short story "Before the Party" by Somerset Maugham, for a television series, which was produced by Verity Lambert. A second 13-part series was aired in 1970.{{imdb title|0064077|Before the Party}}

In 1972, he visited Australia for the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of The Man Who Shot the Albatross, a version of the Governor Bligh story.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

In 1975, Lawler returned to settle in Australia as associate director of the Melbourne Theatre Company, with an agreement to complete a trilogy based on Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. The first play, Kid's Stakes, opened in December 1975 and the second, Other Times, in December 1976. The Doll Trilogy had its first full performance at the Russell Street Theatre, Melbourne, on 12 February 1977.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

Personal life and death

Lawler married Jacklyn Kelleher, an actress, in 1956. They had twin sons, Adam and Martin, born in London in May 1957, and subsequently a daughter, Kylie.{{Cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52269161 |title=Twin sons for "Doll" parents |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=25 |issue=4 |date=3 July 1957 |accessdate=15 June 2016 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{Cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55188771 |title=Author of "The Doll" comes home |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=43 |issue=27 |date=3 December 1975 |accessdate=15 June 2016 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} He turned 100 in May 2021{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtc.com.au/discover-more/mtc-now/doll-people/|title=Doll People|website=www.mtc.com.au}} and died in Melbourne on 24 July 2024, at the age of 103.{{cite web|url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/victoria/summer-of-the-seventeenth-doll-playwright-ray-lawler-dies-aged-103-20240726-p5jwxw.html|title=Summer of the Seventeenth Doll playwright Ray Lawler dies aged 103|newspaper=WA Today|last=Cuthbertson|first=Debbie|date=27 July 2024|access-date=27 July 2024}}

Honours and legacy

Lawler was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1981 New Year Honours for services to the performing arts.United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |issue=48467 |date=31 December 1980 |supp=y |pages=19 }}{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1108697|title=It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours|website=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=13 June 2016}} He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours "for distinguished service to the performing arts as an actor, playwright and director."{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2010934|title=It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours|website=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=29 July 2024}}

The smaller theatre space, the Lawler, in the Melbourne Theatre Company's Southbank Theatre is named after him.{{cn|date=July 2024}}