September 29, 2020
Kenneth Lonergan Career Summation
Occupational Inheritance:
Nationality:
Social Class: Upper-middle, psychiatrist mother, physician father.
Race/Ethnicity: mother Jewish; father Irish
Family:
Formal Education:
Training: theater writer-director, 1982; aged 20
First Film: You Can Count On Me, 2000; aged 38
Breakthrough: You Can Count On Me, 2000; aged 38
First Oscar Nomination: Manchester by the Sea, 2016; aged 52
Gap between First Film and First Nom: 16 years
Other Oscars:
Other Oscar Nominations: Screenplay
Oscar Awards:
Nominations Span:
Genre (specialties): indie
Collaborators:
Last Film:
Contract:
Career Length: 2000-present
Career Output: 3 films
Career Problem: Margaret, 2011; aged
Marriage: actress
Politics:
Death: NA
Kenneth Lonergan (born October 16, 1962) is an American film director, playwright, and screenwriter.
He is the co-writer of the film Gangs of New York (2002), and wrote and directed You Can Count On Me (2000), Margaret (2011), and Manchester by the Sea (2016).
Lonergan is also known for his work as a playwright. His most noted plays include This Is Our Youth, Lobby Hero and The Waverly Gallery. Each also had a successful revival engagement on Broadway, which resulted in each play receiving a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
Lonergan earned an Oscar nomination as Best Director for Manchester by the Sea, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for You Can Count On Me, Gangs of New York, and Manchester by the Sea, winning for the latter at the 89th Academy Awards.
He also won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for Manchester by the Sea at the 70th British Academy Film Awards.
Lonergan was born in The Bronx, New York City to a psychiatrist mother and physician father. His mother is Jewish, and his father was Irish.
Lonergan began writing in high school at the Walden School, a now defunct, highly progressive private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program.[5]
His first play, The Rennings Children, was chosen for the Stephen Sondheim-founded Young Playwrights, Inc. Young Playwright’s Festival in 1982 while he was still an undergraduate. Lonergan matriculated to Wesleyan University, where he trained as a playwright and director.[6] He graduated from the NYU Playwriting Program. He is an alumnus of HB Studio[7] in New York City.
Government and commercial work
After graduating from NYU, Lonergan worked as a speechwriter for the Environmental Protection Agency. He also wrote industrial shows (long-play commercials) for clients such as Weight Watchers.[8]
Career
Stage
Lonergan’s first theatrical success came with the play This Is Our Youth (1996); it was followed by The Waverly Gallery (1999), based on his grandmother’s Greenwich Village gallery, and later Lobby Hero (2002). His play The Starry Messenger premiered Off-Broadway in 2009 and starred his wife J. Smith-Cameron and Matthew Broderick.[9]
In August 2014, This Is Our Youth was revived on Broadway starring Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, and Tavi Gevinson at the Cort Theatre. The play received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
In March 2018, Lobby Hero was revived on Broadway starring Chris Evans, Michael Cera, Brian Tyree Henry, and Bel Powley at the Helen Hayes Theatre. The play received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Cera and Tyree Henry were also nominated for their performances.
In September 2018, The Waverly Gallery was revived on Broadway starring Elaine May, Lucas Hedges, Joan Allen, David Cromer, and Michael Cera at the John Golden Theatre. The show received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Elaine May won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Lonergan’s film career began with his screenplay for the gangland comedy Analyze This (1999). He was subsequently offered a job writing The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000).
Lonergan directed his own screenplay for You Can Count On Me (2000); the film, which was executive produced by Scorsese, went on to receive and be nominated for numerous writing awards.
He contributed to the screenplay for Gangs of New York (2002). In 2005, filming took place for his second film as writer/director, Margaret, starring Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, and J. Smith-Cameron. The film spent over five years in post-production, with Lonergan, the producers and various editors unable to agree on its final cut, resulting in multiple legal disputes. It was finally released in 2011.[1] Margaret ranked 31st in a 2016 BBC poll of the 21st century’s greatest films.[11]
Lonergan wrote and directed Manchester by the Sea, which was released in 2016 to critical acclaim.[12] He also had a small part in the film, as a pedestrian. David Fear of Rolling Stone said the film proves that Lonergan is “practically peerless in portraying loss as a living, breathing thing without resorting to the vocabulary of griefporn.”[13]
Lonergan also wrote the BBC/Starz miniseries Howards End.[14]
Reception
Chang: Lonergan is “always a superb director of actresses,” particularly in Manchester by the Sea where the director “gives the women in his ensemble their due.”[15]
Lonergan is married to actress J. Smith-Cameron. They have one daughter, Nellie.
In January 2020, Lonergan was appointed Visiting Fellow and Artist in Residence at Kellogg College of the University of Oxford.[18]
Credits
Stage
Year Title Notes
1982 The Rennings Children One-act
1993 Betrayed by Everyone One-act; would become This is Our Youth
1996 This Is Our Youth
2000 The Waverly Gallery
2001 Lobby Hero
2004 True to You One-act premiered at TriBeCa Theater Festival
2009 The Starry Messenger
2012 Medieval Play
2016 Hold On to Me Darling
Film
Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer
1999 Analyze This No Yes
2000 You Can Count On Me Yes Yes
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle No Yes
2002 Gangs of New York No Yes
2011 Margaret Yes Yes
2016 Manchester by the Sea Yes Yes
Television
Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer
1994 Doug No Yes Episode: “Doug Throws a Party”
2017 Howards End No Yes Miniseries
Awards and nominations
Theatre
Year Award Category Title Result
1996 Drama Desk Award Best Play This Is Our Youth Nominated
2000 Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Waverly Gallery Nominated
2001 Drama Desk Award Best Play Lobby Hero Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Best Play Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award John Gassner Award Nominated
Olivier Award Best Play Nominated
2015 Tony Award Best Revival of a Play This Is Our Youth Nominated
2018 Lobby Hero Nominated
2019 The Waverly Gallery Nominated
Films
Year Award Category Film Result
2000 Academy Award Best Original Screenplay You Can Count On Me Nominated
Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay Nominated
Independent Spirit Award Best First Feature Won
Best Screenplay Won
Writers Guild of America Award Best Original Screenplay Won
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Drama Won
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Won
Toronto Film Critics Association Best Screenplay Won
AFI Award Best New Writer Won
National Board of Review Special Achievement Award Won
National Society of Film Critics Award Best Screenplay Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Screenplay Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Screenplay Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best New Filmmaker Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Screenplay Nominated
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Russell Smith Award Won
Satellite Award Best Screenplay Won
2002 Academy Award Best Original Screenplay Gangs of New York Nominated
British Academy Film Awards Best Original Screenplay Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award Best Original Screenplay Nominated
2011 Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Screenplay Margaret Nominated
London Film Critics’ Circle Award Screenwriter of the Year Nominated
2016 Academy Award Best Director Manchester by the Sea Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Won
British Academy Film Awards Best Direction Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Won
Golden Globe Award Best Director Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Directors Guild of America Award Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award Best Original Screenplay Nominated
Independent Spirit Award Best Screenplay Nominated
Gotham Award Best Screenplay Nominated
National Board of Review Best Original Screenplay Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Screenplay Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Screenplay Nominated
Satellite Award Best Director Won
Best Original Screenplay Nominated
Washington D.C. Film Critics Association Best Director Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Nominated
