LibGuides: Theatre Research Resources: Biographies

Introduction

The library has numerous sources both online and in print to help you conduct biographical research. We've included a selection of online biographical databases below along with several recommendations for print sources divided by general collections, dramatists, and actors.

Because many of these recommendations collect biographical information on a wide variety of people, the information provided may be limited to a short biographical sketch or brief entry. If you are hoping to find more in-depth biographies or an entire book devoted to a particular theatremaker, try a search in the library catalog for their name and "biography" to see what other, more specific materials we might have available.

Databases & Online Tools

Biography In Context This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the biographies of over 300,000 people. All time periods and nationalities are covered. Includes narrative biographies (2,000-3,000-word essays) from such titles as Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of American Biography, Encyclopedia of World Biography, Notable 20th Century Scientists, Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, and Contemporary Black Biography, and more than 200,000 "thumbnail" biographies from titles such as Who's Who Among African Americans, Directory of American Scholars, Writer's Directory and Almanac of Famous People. Also includes biographical articles from over 280 journals or magazines such as People Weekly, Interview, Variety, Newsweek, Time, Jet, New Statesman, Entertainment Weekly, Twentieth Century Literature, etc.
Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online This link opens in a new window
Provides biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index This link opens in a new window
Includes over 13.6 million biographical sketches indexed, obtained from approximately 100-150 volumes and editions of 60-90 biographical dictionaries, including new titles as well as new editions of previously indexed sources.

Selected Biographies

Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre by Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe (Editor)
Call Number: Online Resource
Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre is a lively and accessible biographical guide to the key figures in contemporary drama. All professions associated with the theatre are represented here - actors and directors, playwrights and designers. By virtue of the broad range of its coverage, Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre offers a unique insight into the rich diversity of international drama today.
Stage Lives: a Bibliography and Index of Theatrical Biographies in English by George B. Bryan
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating Z5781 S734
Lists and describes published biographies and autobiographies about notable figures in world theatre from the beginnings to 1985.
Stage Deaths: a Biographical Guide to International Theatrical Obituaries, 1850-1990 by George B. Bryan
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating PN2205 S734
Comprehensive two-volume list of theatrical figures' birth/death dates, and where their obituaries were published.
The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy by Billy Harbin (Editor); Kim Marra (Editor); Robert A. Schanke (Editor)
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating PN2286.5 G393
The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy collects in a single volume biographies of more than one hundred notable figures whose careers flourished in the years before the 1969 Stonewall Riots marked the beginning of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement in the United States. The leading lights in American theater have included innumerable individuals whose sexualities have deviated from prevailing norms, but this history has until recently been largely unwritten and unknown. This book contributes significantly to the recovery of this history, fashioning a much fuller, more nuanced portrait of American theater.

Contemporary Dramatists by Thomas Riggs, ed.
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating PN1721 C6681999
Provides brief biographical and bibliographic information for dramatists, as well as contact information when available.
Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays by Bernard L. Peterson
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating PS153.N5 P43 1988
This work provides a wealth of information on obscure and overlooked American playwrights as well as some famous ones; it will be a welcome addition for collections specializing in the theater arts. Reference Books Bulletin This directory and index, the first such volume devoted exclusively to contemporary black American dramatists, will have an important place in theatre collections. Organized as an encyclopedia, it provides information on more than 600 noteworthy Black American playwrights whose plays have been written, produced, or published between 1950 and the present.
Women Playwrights of Diversity by Jane T. Peterson; Suzanne Bennett
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating PS338.W6 P48
The cultural and ethnic diversity of contemporary American society is represented in plays by women. These women playwrights of diverse backgrounds, however, are too infrequently seen on the stage or read in the classroom. This reference highlights the careers and work of more than 80 women playwrights whose writings portray the African American, Latina, Asian American and lesbian sensibility in the United States. Each profile includes a biographical sketch, a description of plays, a selected production history of each work, information on the availability of plays, awards won by the playwright, and a selected bibliography of critical articles and reviews.
Asian American Playwrights by Miles Xian Liu
Call Number: 810.9 As425
In the late nineteenth century, Asian American drama made its debut with the spotlight firmly on the lives and struggles of Asians in North America, rather than on the cultures and traditions of the Asian homeland. Today, Asian American playwrights continue to challenge the limitations of established theatrical conventions and direct popular attention toward issues and experiences that might otherwise be ignored or marginalized. While Asian American literature came into full bloom in the last 25 years, Asian American drama has yet to receive the kind of critical attention it warrants. This reference book serves as a versatile vehicle for exploring the field of Asian American drama from its recorded conception to its present stage.

American Actors and Actresses: a Guide to Information Sources by Stephen M. Archer
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating PN2285 A73A4
Lists and describes major published sources of information about American actors from the beginning of American professional theatre to 1983.
Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960 by Bernard Peterson
Call Number: Online Resource
""This directory includes over 500 African American performers and theater people who have made a significant contribution to the American stage from the early 19th century to the beginning of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Entries provide succinct biographical and theatrical information gathered from a variety of sources including library theater and drama collections, dissertations and theses, newspaper and magazine reviews and criticism, theater programs, theatrical memoirs, and earlier performing arts directories.