Susan Nussbaum
{{Short description|American actress and activist (1953–2022)}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Susan Nussbaum
| image = SusanNussbaum1984.png
| alt = A young white woman with curly dark hair, smiling
| caption = Susan Nussbaum, from a 1984 newspaper photo
| birth_name = Susan Ruth Nussbaum
| birth_date = {{birth date|1953|12|12}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|4|28|1953|12|12}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| occupation = Playwright, novelist, activist
| father = Mike Nussbaum
| relatives = Karen Nussbaum (sister)
}}
Susan Ruth Nussbaum (December 12, 1953 – April 28, 2022) was an American actress, author, playwright, and disability rights activist.{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Annabelle |date=2022-05-12 |title=Susan Nussbaum, 68, Who Pressed for Disability Rights in Her Plays, Dies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/theater/susan-nussbaum-dead.html |access-date=2022-05-28 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Kogan |first=Rick |date=April 29, 2022 |title=Author, disability activist and actor Susan Nussbaum dies, after a career of pushing boundaries |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-susan-nussbaum-obituary-kogan-0501-20220429-nz32plu5wjcihfofdlwmfc6qh4-story.html |access-date=2022-05-28 |website=Chicago Tribune}}
Early life and education
Nussbaum was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Highland Park, the daughter of Mike Nussbaum and Annette Brenner Nussbaum. Her father, a former exterminator, became a well-known actor and director;{{Cite news |last=Galloway |first=Paul |date=1984-12-28 |title=Stage is the Nussbaums' Ticket |pages=55, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-stage-is-the-ticket-for/123347771/ 57] |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123347833/stage-is-the-nussbaums-ticketpaul/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} her mother was a publicist. Her sister Karen Nussbaum is a noted labor leader.{{Cite web |title=Karen Nussbaum |url=https://www.workingamerica.org/staff/karen-nussbaum |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Working America}}
Nussbaum studied acting at Roosevelt University and Goodman School of Drama, both in Chicago. Nussbaum used a wheelchair after she survived being hit by a car in her twenties.{{Cite web |last=Haupt |first=Jennifer |date=September 4, 2013 |title=Susan Nussbaum: My Disability Was Nothing Personal |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/one-true-thing/201309/susan-nussbaum-my-disability-was-nothing-personal |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Psychology Today |language=en-US}} "When I became a wheelchair user in the late '70s," she wrote in a 2012 essay, "all I knew about being disabled I learned from reading books and watching movies, and that scared the shit out of me."{{Cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Susan |date=2012-11-21 |title=Why Are Fictional Characters With Disabilities So Unreal? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/in-her-words_1_b_2171185 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}
Career
As a performer, Nussbaum appeared a comic revue, Staring Back (1984),{{Cite news |last=Koyama |first=Christine |date=1984-09-12 |title=Disabled Actors Shine in 'Staring Back' |pages=73 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123347549/disabled-actors-shine-in-staring/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} as Emma Goldman in Frank Galati's She Always Said, Pablo (1987), in another comic review, The Plucky and Spunky Show (1990),{{Cite news |last=Christiansen |first=Richard |date=1990-12-04 |title=Remains Theatre's Comedy Dead Serious About the Disabled |pages=24 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123349056/remains-theatres-comedy-dead-serious/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} in her own one-woman show, Mishuganismo, directed by her father, in Activities of Daily Living (1994),{{Cite news |last=Obejas |first=Achy |date=1995-03-10 |title=Nussbaum settles into 'Telethon' role |pages=224 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123348476/nussbaum-settles-into-telethon/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} and in No One As Nasty (2000).{{Cite news |last=Taubeneck |first=Anne |date=2000-06-18 |title=The 'crip universe': Play finds humor in deep-seated problems |pages=246 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123349259/the-crip-universe-play-finds-humor/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} She worked with Marca Bristo on Access Living,{{Cite web |last=Terkel |first=Studs |date=August 28, 1981 |title=Interviewing Susan Nussbaum and Michael Pachovas |url=https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/interviewing-susan-nussbaum-and-michael-pachovas |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Ogintz |first=Eileen |date=1982-01-19 |title=Handicapped find organizing can make their presence felt |pages=11 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123348284/handicapped-find-organizing-can-make/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} and started a group of disabled girls and young women, The Empowered FeFes.{{Cite web |last=Ellison |first=Joy |date=May 10, 2022 |title=Rainbow Rant: Remembering Susan Nussbaum |url=https://www.columbusmonthly.com/story/entertainment/human-interest/2022/05/10/rainbow-rant-remembering-susan-nussbaum/9714304002/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Columbus Monthly |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-04-30 |title=Passages: Playwright/disability-rights activist Susan Nussbaum dies |url=https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/PASSAGES-Playwright-disability-rights-activist-Susan-Nussbaum-dies/73024.html |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Windy City Times}}{{Cite news |last=Brotman |first=Barbara |date=2001-08-22 |title=Talking without Taboo |pages=97 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123349702/talking-without-taboobarbara-brotman/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}} She directed a production of Michael Vitali's G-Man! (1995), and two productions of Mike Ervin's The History of Bowling (1999).{{Cite web |last=Ervin |first=Mike |date=2022-05-12 |title=Susan Nussbaum, 1953-2022 |url=http://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/susan-nussbaum-1953-2022/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Chicago Reader |language=en-US}}
Riva Lehrer painted a portrait of Nussbaum in 1998.{{Cite web |last=Lehrer |first=Riva |date=1998 |title=Susan Nussbaum |url=https://www.rivalehrerart.com/susan-nussbaum |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Riva Lehrer Art |language=en}} In 2008, Nussbaum was named one of Utne Reader
Works
- Staring Back (1983, sketch comedy show, co-written with Lawrence Perkins)
- The Plucky and Spunky Show (1990)
- Mishuganismo (1992, play){{Cite web |last=Obejas |first=Achy |date=1992-01-16 |title=Solidarity and Loneliness |url=http://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/solidarity-and-loneliness/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Chicago Reader |language=en-US}}
- Telethon (1993, play, co-written with William Hammack)
- Activities of Daily Living (1994, play, co-writer){{Cite news |last=Buck |first=Genevieve |date=1994-07-29 |title='Daily Living' With a Twist |pages=183 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123348876/daily-living-with-a-twistgenevieve/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- No One as Nasty (2000, play)
- Crippled Sisters (play){{Cite web |last=Worley |first=Sam |date=2013-05-30 |title=Susan Nussbaum's next act |url=http://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/susan-nussbaums-next-act/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Chicago Reader |language=en-US}}
- "Why are Fictional Characters with Disabilities So Unreal?" (2012, essay)
- Good Kings, Bad Kings (2013, novel){{Cite journal |last=Wegner |first=Gesine |date=2013-05-20 |title=Review of Good Kings Bad Kings |url=https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/3786 |journal=Disability Studies Quarterly |language=en |volume=33 |issue=3 |doi=10.18061/dsq.v33i3.3786 |issn=2159-8371|doi-access=free }}
- Code of the Freaks (2020, documentary, co-written and co-produced by Nussbaum){{Cite web |title=About the Film |url=https://www.codeofthefreaks.com/about-the-film |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Code of the Freaks |language=en-US}}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0f6kOY32sY Susan Nussbaum's 2014 lecture for One Book Villanova], on YouTube
- [https://disartnow.org/podcasts/episode-4-susan-nussbaum/ An episode of Distopia], a disability-focused podcast hosted by Christopher Smit, featuring an interview with Nussbaum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nussbaum, Susan}}
Category:American women dramatists and playwrights
Category:American disability rights activists