William
Hauptman Papers
1954-1993
(bulk 1975-1993)
4 linear feet
4 document
cases, 1 map folder
Click here for complete
inventory
Acquisition: Gift donated by Hauptman, 1994.
Access: Direct inquiries to Archivist, Southwestern Writers Collection, Albert
B. Alkek Library, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666-4604. (512) 245-2313.
Processed
by: Amanda Oates, 2000.
Biographical
Note:
Playwright
and novelist William Thornton Hauptman was born November 26, 1942, in Wichita
Falls, Texas, to working-class parents raised in the Midwest. As a child in
Wichita Falls, Hauptman attended many plays, readings, and magic shows in the
large municipal auditorium there, and saw such actors as Charles Laughton and
Gene Autry. He graduated from Wichita Falls Senior High School in 1961, and
earned a B.F.A. in Drama from the University of Texas in 1966. His
undergraduate degree focused on acting; Hauptman did not decide until graduate school that he
wanted to pursue playwrighting. He completed an MFA in playwrighting at Yale
University School of Drama in 1973. He then went on to teach playwrighting at
Adelphi College in Garden City, NY, 1973-75, and at Yale University School of
Drama, 1976.
Soon
thereafter Hauptman became the recipient of numerous grants which enabled him
to pursue his writing full time. He won playwrighting grants from CBS (1977),
the National Endowment for the Arts (1977), and the Guggenheim Foundation
(1978). Many award-winning plays
followed. The first was a
Distinguished Playwrighting/Obie Award for ÒDomino Courts/Comanche CafŽÓ 1978.
For ÒDenmark VeseyÓ (1981 PBS teleplay) he won a NAACP Freedom Foundation Award
and an Emmy Award nomination. For ÒBig RiverÓ (1985), a Broadway musical based
on Mark TwainÕs The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn,
with music written by Roger Miller, he earned a Tony Award for Best Musical
Book, Boston Theater Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical, San Diego
Theatre CriticÕs Circle for Award for Best New Play. For the play Gillette, he won Los Angeles Drama League Award
for Distinguished Playwrighting (1986). For Good RockinÕ Tonight and Other
Stories (1986), he
received the Jesse Jones Award for Best Fiction by a Texas Author from Texas
Institute of Letters.
ÒThere
is a remarkable wholeness about William HauptmanÕs dramatic writing that
transcends the working-class milieu in which his plays are setÉ An awareness of
the outdoors, the land, and the forces of nature permeates the writing and
generates some striking scenic images. The visual sensibility is supplemented
by his strongly imaginistic use of sound: the distant dog bark that ends Domino
Courts, the low rumble
that seems to comment on CarrollÕs line ÒNow can we have some peace and quiet,
right honey?Ó, in Heat,
a passing train, the howl of a coyote, droning cicadas, and specific musical
selections that often mock a characterÕs pipe dreams.Ó (Contemporary
Dramatists, 6th
ed., St. James Press, 1999.)
Hauptman
served as Associate Professor at the Texas Center for Writers in 1996, and
returned in 2000 to continue teaching. His novel, The Storm Season, originally published by Bantam Books in
1992, was published as a reprint edition by the University of Texas Press in
Fall 2000, as part of the Southwestern Writers Collection Series.
Works
published:
Plays
Shearwater, American Place Theater, New York City,
published in
Performance Magazine, 1974
Heat
(1977)
Domino
Courts / Comanche CafŽ (1977)
Durango
Flash
Big
River (1986)
Gilette
(1985)
Teleplays
ÒDenmark
VeseyÕs RebellionÓ (an episode for PBS series
ÒA House DividedÓ (1981)
Short
Stories
Good
RockinÕ Tonight and Other Stories.
New York : Bantam Books,
1988.
Novel
The
Storm Season. New York :
Bantam, 1992.
Scope and
Contents
Drafts, manuscripts, typescripts, notes,
photographs, and correspondence comprise this collection, which was created and
maintained by William Hauptman, with dates ranging from 1956-1993. This material has been arranged into
the following series: 1. Works, 2. Photographs, and 3. Artifacts. The bulk of
the collection is comprised of manuscript and typescript drafts of HauptmanÕs
works, mostly his plays and screenplays, with sparse correspondence and
publicity. Early works include a 1956 short story titled ÒWild Life in CanadaÓ
(1956), complete with drawings of characters. A letter from Hauptman to Roger
Miller regarding their collaboration on the award-winning play ÒBig RiverÓ, is
located with the typescript of that play. Of additional note are the poetry,
journal entry, and short story which developed into the novel, Storm Season, as well as correspondence from Hauptman
to editor Debbie Futter, at Bantam, Doubleday, Dell, regarding, among other
things, the title of the novel.
Published works cataloged separately.
Series
descriptions :
Series 1 : Works (1954-1993)
Drafts,
manuscripts, and typescripts of HauptmanÕs plays, teleplay, screenplays, short
stories, poetry, novel, articles and criticism are located in this series.
Titles under each genre are filed alphabetically. Related correspondence,
reviews, clippings, publicity, and playbills are filed after the draft or
script for each title.
Series 2 : Photographs (1983,
n.d.)
Color
3.5Óx5Ó snapshots taken and annotated by Hauptman document people (including
HauptmanÕs brother and father), places (including Wichita Falls and the
Oklahoma Union Power Plant), and various tornadoes and cloud formations.
Series 3 : Artifacts (n.d.)
This
series includes a harmonica owned by Hauptman.
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inventory
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