Susan Nussbaum Explained

Susan Nussbaum
Birth Name:Susan Ruth Nussbaum
Birth Date:12 December 1953
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Death Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation:Playwright, novelist, activist
Father:Mike Nussbaum
Relatives:Karen Nussbaum (sister)

Susan Ruth Nussbaum (December 12, 1953 – April 28, 2022) was an American actress, author, playwright, and disability rights activist.[1] [2]

Early life and education

Nussbaum was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Highland Park, the daughter of Mike Nussbaum and Annette Brenner Nussbaum. Her father, a former exterminator, became a well-known actor and director;[3] her mother was a publicist. Her sister Karen Nussbaum is a noted labor leader.[4]

Nussbaum studied acting at Roosevelt University and Goodman School of Drama, both in Chicago. Nussbaum used a wheelchair after she survived being hit by a car in her twenties.[5] "When I became a wheelchair user in the late '70s," she wrote in a 2012 essay, "all I knew about being disabled I learned from reading books and watching movies, and that scared the shit out of me."[6]

Career

As a performer, Nussbaum appeared a comic revue, Staring Back (1984),[7] as Emma Goldman in Frank Galati's She Always Said, Pablo (1987), in another comic review, The Plucky and Spunky Show (1990),[8] in her own one-woman show, Mishuganismo, directed by her father, in Activities of Daily Living (1994),[9] and in No One As Nasty (2000).[10] She worked with Marca Bristo on Access Living,[11] [12] and started a group of disabled girls and young women, The Empowered FeFes.[13] [14] [15] She directed a production of Michael Vitali's G-Man! (1995), and two productions of Mike Ervin's The History of Bowling (1999).[16]

Riva Lehrer painted a portrait of Nussbaum in 1998.[17] In 2008, Nussbaum was named one of Utne Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World." Her debut novel Good Kings, Bad Kings (2013) won the 2012 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.[18] [19] The novel is set in an institution for disabled young people in the Chicago area.[20] [21]

Works

Personal life

Nussbaum had a daughter, Taina Rodriguez. She died from pneumonia in 2022, at the age of 68, at her home in Chicago. She was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge Illinois.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Williams . Annabelle . 2022-05-12 . Susan Nussbaum, 68, Who Pressed for Disability Rights in Her Plays, Dies . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-05-28 . 0362-4331.
  2. Web site: Kogan . Rick . April 29, 2022 . Author, disability activist and actor Susan Nussbaum dies, after a career of pushing boundaries . 2022-05-28 . Chicago Tribune.
  3. News: Galloway . Paul . 1984-12-28 . Stage is the Nussbaums' Ticket . 55, 57 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: Karen Nussbaum . 2023-04-22 . Working America.
  5. Web site: Haupt . Jennifer . September 4, 2013 . Susan Nussbaum: My Disability Was Nothing Personal . 2023-04-22 . Psychology Today . en-US.
  6. Web site: Nussbaum . Susan . 2012-11-21 . Why Are Fictional Characters With Disabilities So Unreal? . 2023-04-22 . HuffPost . en.
  7. News: Koyama . Christine . 1984-09-12 . Disabled Actors Shine in 'Staring Back' . 73 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Christiansen . Richard . 1990-12-04 . Remains Theatre's Comedy Dead Serious About the Disabled . 24 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Obejas . Achy . 1995-03-10 . Nussbaum settles into 'Telethon' role . 224 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Taubeneck . Anne . 2000-06-18 . The 'crip universe': Play finds humor in deep-seated problems . 246 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  11. Web site: Terkel . Studs . August 28, 1981 . Interviewing Susan Nussbaum and Michael Pachovas . 2023-04-22 . The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive . en.
  12. News: Ogintz . Eileen . 1982-01-19 . Handicapped find organizing can make their presence felt . 11 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  13. Web site: Ellison . Joy . May 10, 2022 . Rainbow Rant: Remembering Susan Nussbaum . 2023-04-22 . Columbus Monthly . en-US.
  14. Web site: 2022-04-30 . Passages: Playwright/disability-rights activist Susan Nussbaum dies . 2023-04-22 . Windy City Times.
  15. News: Brotman . Barbara . 2001-08-22 . Talking without Taboo . 97 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  16. Web site: Ervin . Mike . 2022-05-12 . Susan Nussbaum, 1953-2022 . 2023-04-22 . Chicago Reader . en-US.
  17. Web site: Lehrer . Riva . 1998 . Susan Nussbaum . 2023-04-22 . Riva Lehrer Art . en.
  18. Web site: December 24, 2013 . Rewriting Images Of People With Disabilities . 2023-04-22 . WBUR . en.
  19. Web site: Interview with Susan Nussbaum . 2023-04-22 . Washington Independent Review of Books.
  20. Web site: Brown . Emma . 2013-05-22 . Susan Nussbaum's Social Engagement . 2023-04-22 . Interview Magazine . en-US.
  21. Web site: Wood . Caitlin . August 29, 2013 . An Interview With Disability Activist and "Good Kings Bad Kings" Author Susan Nussbaum . 2023-04-22 . Bitch Media . en.
  22. Web site: Obejas . Achy . 1992-01-16 . Solidarity and Loneliness . 2023-04-22 . Chicago Reader . en-US.
  23. News: Buck . Genevieve . 1994-07-29 . 'Daily Living' With a Twist . 183 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-04-22 . Newspapers.com.
  24. Web site: Worley . Sam . 2013-05-30 . Susan Nussbaum's next act . 2023-04-22 . Chicago Reader . en-US.
  25. Wegner . Gesine . 2013-05-20 . Review of Good Kings Bad Kings . Disability Studies Quarterly . en . 33 . 3 . 10.18061/dsq.v33i3.3786 . 2159-8371. free .
  26. Web site: About the Film . 2023-04-22 . Code of the Freaks . en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Susan Nussbaum".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.