George Birimisa (February 21, 1924 â€" May 10, 2012) was an American
playwright, actor, and theater director who contributed to gay theater
during the 1960s, the early years of the Off-Off-Broadway movement.His
works feature sexually explicit, emotionally charged depictions of
working-class homosexual men, often closeted, in the years before the
1969 Stonewall riots prompted the gay rights movement. Contemporary
Authors stated that "Birmisa's plays feature themes of human
isolation, frustrated idealism, and rage against needless suffering,
usually centered around homosexual characters." According to theatre
critic and playwright Michael Smith, Birimisa's writing "links the
pain of human isolation to economic and social roots." Birimisa
remained an active playwright, author, editor, and teacher until the
end of his life.Birimisa was born in Santa Cruz, California, one of
five children born to Croatian Americans Charles and Anna (Gjurovich)
Birimisa. While George was still a child, his father died as the
result of injuries while under arrest after speaking in support of the
Communist Party at a labor rally.Birimisa's mother remarried, but his
stepfather rejected George and his two older brothers. He spent most
of his childhood in a Catholic orphanage (St. Francis Catholic School
for Boys) then in a series of foster homes. He left school after ninth
grade. Birimisa married Nancy Linden in 1952, and they divorced in
1961.
playwright, actor, and theater director who contributed to gay theater
during the 1960s, the early years of the Off-Off-Broadway movement.His
works feature sexually explicit, emotionally charged depictions of
working-class homosexual men, often closeted, in the years before the
1969 Stonewall riots prompted the gay rights movement. Contemporary
Authors stated that "Birmisa's plays feature themes of human
isolation, frustrated idealism, and rage against needless suffering,
usually centered around homosexual characters." According to theatre
critic and playwright Michael Smith, Birimisa's writing "links the
pain of human isolation to economic and social roots." Birimisa
remained an active playwright, author, editor, and teacher until the
end of his life.Birimisa was born in Santa Cruz, California, one of
five children born to Croatian Americans Charles and Anna (Gjurovich)
Birimisa. While George was still a child, his father died as the
result of injuries while under arrest after speaking in support of the
Communist Party at a labor rally.Birimisa's mother remarried, but his
stepfather rejected George and his two older brothers. He spent most
of his childhood in a Catholic orphanage (St. Francis Catholic School
for Boys) then in a series of foster homes. He left school after ninth
grade. Birimisa married Nancy Linden in 1952, and they divorced in
1961.
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