A prominent American playwright of the second part of the 20th century, of keen intelligence and theatrical energy and power, Arthur L. Kopit was born May 10, 1937 in New York City. He grew up in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York on Long Island, the son of a jeweler. He began his playwriting career early as an undergraduate at Harvard University in 1957 with the production of

The Questioning of Nick

. It was at Harvard that Kopit found his voice with his most famous play,

Oh, Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad

, and for the next two decades his two most important works,

Indians

and

Wings

.

Kopit’s first play, a serious realistic one-act drama which won a college-wide playwriting contest, The Questioning of Nick is set in a police lieutenant’s office

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Citation: Burch, Steven Dedalus. "Arthur L. Kopit". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 April 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2557, accessed 29 March 2024.]

2557 Arthur L. Kopit 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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