Theater Studies

Biographical Sources

A guide to resources in drama, the performing arts, and theater.

American Playwrights since 1945: A Guide to Scholarship, Criticism, and Performance
(O'Neill Reference PS350 .A53 1989)

Contemporary African American Women Playwrights (O'Neill Stacks PS338 .N4 C66 2007)

Contemporary Dramatists 6th edition (O'Neill Reference PR737 .C57)

Contemporary Gay American Poets and Playwrights: An A-to-Z Guide (O'Neill Stacks PS325 .C656 2003)

Contemporary Jewish-American Dramatists and Poets: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook (O'Neill Stacks PS153 .J4 C68 1999)

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, includes Who's Who and Who was Who in the Theater
(O'Neill Reference PN2285.C58) 84 vols.

International Dictionary of Theatre: Playwrights (O'Neill Reference PN2000.I47)

Notable Women in the American Theatre (O'Neill Reference PN2285.N65 1989)

Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre (O'Neill Stacks PN2035 .W485 2000)

Eugene O'Neill in Cape Cod

The following are some databases useful for locating biographical information on both contemporary and historical theatrical figures.

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Scholarly biographical articles with short bibliographies on deceased notable Americans. Most articles have pictures of the subjects.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an illustrated collection of more than 57,000 specially written biographies of significant men and women in all areas of British history, from the fourth century BC to the present.
Contemporary Literary Criticism
An extensive collection of critical essays on contemporary authors. Each CLC Select entry contains a biographical/critical introduction, listing of principal works, and sources for further study.

Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Literature Resource Center provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors.

Something About the Author
Comprehensive online access to all volumes of Gale's™ Something About the Author series, which examines the lives and works of authors and illustrators for children and young adults.
A Dictionary of Opera Characters
This guide gives plot synopses for over 250 operas and operettas, and full information on each operatic role, including its creator and notable performers.
Contemporary Writers (British Council)
Contains up-to-date profiles of some of the UK, Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland's most important living writers. Included are biographies, bibliographies, critical reviews, prize information and photographs. Profiles are searchable by author, genre, nationality, publisher and book title.

Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Online biographical reference database in all fields. Theatre is well represented.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) indexes a multitude of reference sources that cover individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world.