Ellsworth P. Conkle

AKA: E.P. Conkle, Ellsworth Prouty Conkle

Born 1899-07-10 Peru, NE (USA)

Died 1994-02-18
Austin, TX (USA)

Buried
Peru, NE (USA)
Mount Vernon Cemetery

Federal Theater Project poster for E.P. Conkle play, (1939 stamped on reverse).

Attribution: WPA Federal Theater Project

Conkle taught theatrical playwriting at the University of Texas from 1939 to 1973. Several of his early plays, including "200 Were Chosen" (1936) and "Prologue to Glory" (1938), were produced on Broadway. He wrote a number of plays centered on southeast Nebraska. Some were compiled in "The Crick Bottom Plays." His drama students at the University of Texas included Pat Hingle, Tommy Tune and Fess Parker. Playwright Tennessee Williams had been Conkle's student at the University of Iowa. See his obituary in The New York Times, February 23, 1994.

Places Lived

Peru, NE
Lincoln, NE
Comstock, NE
New Haven, CT
Iowa City, IA
Austin, TX

Author Of

Play/Screenplay

Keywords

Theatrical Playwrights; Broadway Productions; Writing Plays; Drama

Education

Undergraduate Studies, Peru State Normal School, Peru, NE
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Master of Arts Degree in Theater, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Graduate Studies, 1926-1928, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Ph.D. in Theater, 1936, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Occupation

Teacher
Professor
Playwright

Places Worked

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
University of Texas, Austin, TX (1939-1973)

Honors

Guggenheim Fellowship, 1929
Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships from 1934 to 1936.
Published in The 25 Best Plays of Modern American Theatre, 1949

Associations

WPA Federal Theater Project

Bibliography

Crick Bottom Plays: Five Mid-Western Sketches. 1928.
In the Shadow of the Rock. 1937.
200 Were Chosen. 1937.
Prologue to Glory. 1938.
Five Plays. 1947.
No Time for Heaven. 1972.
Minnie Field.
Shadow Of the Rock.

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