CREATOR A.R. GURNEY

That’s when he began turning out plays at a fast pace – mostly for off-Broadway and regional theaters. His ‘source material’ was his own family and their life in Buffalo. Remarkably, Gurney wrote more than a play each year for the next 25 years. His father was uneasy about what Pete would be saying about the family in his plays. Apparently, Gurney, Sr. was pretty hard to impress and didn’t approve of his son’s intention to become a writer. About Pete’s early plays, Sr. “didn’t like them very much.” And when one was well received in New York, Pete asked his dad to come into the city to see it. Dad’s response: “If it’s any good, it will come to Buffalo.”

Gurney’s father died in 1977 and Molly’s mother, Sarah Norton, died in 1978. After their deaths, Pete’s mother married Molly’s father.

Gurney died at his Manhattan home in on June 13, 2017, at the age of 86.