Gretchen Cryer (born
October 17 1935)
[www.imdb.com/name/nm0190543/] is an
American writer,
actress, and
lyricist.
Life and career
Cryer was born
Gretchen Kiger[Gretchen Cryer Biography (1935-)] in
Dunreith, Indiana, the daughter of Louise Niven and Earl William Kiger.
She attended
DePauw University as an English major. In one of her music classes, she met Nancy Ford, and the two forged a friendship that eventually lead to a number of professional collaborations as the only female composer-lyricist team in
New York theater. Their first work,
For Reasons of Loyalty, produced by
Boston University, was written while the two were graduate students at
Yale University.
Their first professional New York production was
Now Is the Time For All Good Men (1967), a highly political piece about Cryer's pacifist brother that was panned by the critics. Undaunted, they mounted
The Last Sweet Days of Isaac - with
Austin Pendleton and
Alice Playten - in 1970, winning not only rave reviews, but the
Obie,
Drama Desk, and Outer Circle Awards as well. From there they moved to
Broadway, but
Shelter (1973) - despite a few good reviews - was not a success.
