Michael Gurr Explained

Michael Gurr
Birth Place:	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Birth Date:	29 October 1961
Death Date:	2 May 2017
Education:	National Theatre Drama School

Michael Gurr (29 October 1961 – 2 May 2017) was an Australian actor, playwright, author, speech writer and screenwriter.

Early life

Gurr was born in East Malvern, in Melbourne where his father was a kidney doctor at the Alfred Hospital and his mother was a nurse. His first published work was a fictional poem at age 10, from the point of view of a paraplegic, which unintentionally earned him a donation from a Herald Sun reader.^[1] He was the second of five children.^[2]

Career

Gurr studied at National Theatre Drama School (NTDS) in St Kilda, Victoria, and while there wrote a number of short plays which were sent to Ray Lawler, then Literary Advisor to the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC). In 1982 Gurr was invited to be Writer in Residence at the MTC and it was there that his first plays were produced.^[3]

His best-known plays include Crazy Brave and Sex Diary of an Infidel.

He worked as a speechwriter for a number of years for John Brumby and Steve Bracks, both of whom became Labor Premiers of Victoria.^{[4] [5]}

He died on 2 May 2017. He is survived by his four siblings and his partner Brandon Hardie Jones.^{[2] [6]}

Bibliography

Autobiography

• Days Like These (2006)

Drama

• A Pair of Claws (1983)
• Magnetic North (1983)
• Imitation Real (1983)
• Dead to the World (1986)
• Worlds Apart (1987)
• What You Wanted (1988)
• This and That (1988)
• These Days (1988)
• The Hundred Year Ambush (1990)
• Victoria Bitter (1990)
• Sex Diary of an Infidel (1991)
• Desire Lines (1992)
• Underwear, Perfume and Crash Helmet (1994)
• Jerusalem (1996)
• Anna (1998)
• Shark Finn Soup (1998)
• Crazy Brave (2000)
• The Simple Truth (2002)
• Something to Declare (2003)
• Julia 3 (2004)
• Our Beautiful Daughter (2008)
• Mercy (2009)
• Test Pilot (2010)

Poetry

• Four Poems (1982)

Television

• WTF – With Tim Ferguson (2010)^[7]

Film

• Emmett Stone (1985) – an adaption of his 1983 play of the same name. Gurr is credited as screenwriter.
• Departure (1986) – an adaptation of his radio play A Pair of Claws (1983)^[8]

External links

• Australian theatre credits at AusStage

Notes and References

1. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/visionary-playwright-of-the-crazy-brave-20170606-gwlcwq.html "Visionary Playwright of the Crazy Brave"
2. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/stage/melbourne-stage/genius-playwright-and-speechwriter-michael-gurr-dies-aged-55-20170502-gvx1mx.html 'Genius' playwright and speechwriter Michael Gurr dies aged 55
3. http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A8886?mainTabTemplate=agentDefault Austlit – Michael Gurr
4. http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/the-premier-and-the-playwright/2006/08/26/1156012793617.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 "The Premier and the playwright"
5. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/strictlyspeaking/about/michaelgurr.htm Biography
6. https://books.google.com/books?id=PdL8rZ1ysREC&dq=%22michael+gurr%22+partner&pg=PA2 Michael Gurr, Days Like These, p. 3
7. http://withtimferguson.wordpress.com/withtim-ferguson/ With Tim Ferguson – About the Show
8. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123795/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_2 IMDB – Departure (1986)