Robert_Harling_(writer)

Robert Harling (writer)

Robert Harling (writer)

American writer, producer and film director

This article is about the American writer. For the UK typographer and writer (1910-2008), see Robert Harling (typographer). For the 15th-century knight, see Robert Harling.

Robert M. Harling III (born November 12, 1951) is an American writer, producer and film director.

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Biography

Early life

He was born in 1951 in Dothan, Alabama, one of three children of Robert M. Harling Jr (1923-2019) and Margaret Jones Harling (1923-2013).[1][2][3][4] He graduated from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana and obtained a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans.[3][4][5] While in law school, he sang in a band which performed in New Orleans on weekends.[4]

Career

However, Harling never used his legal education: skipping the bar exam, he instead moved to New York City to become an actor, auditioning for bit parts in plays and television commercials as well as working as a ticket seller for Broadway shows.[3][4]

After the death of his younger sister, Susan, in 1985 due to diabetes, Harling wrote a short story and adapted it into the play Steel Magnolias,[3][4][5][6][7] which was produced off-Broadway in 1987 to great acclaim and was translated into 17 languages.[4]

Harling also wrote the screenplay for the film version of the play that was produced in 1989.[8][9][10][11] He played a small role in the film as a minister.[8]

Harling wrote more screenplays: Soapdish (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), and Laws of Attraction (2004); he also worked as an uncredited script doctor on a number of films. Harling also wrote and directed the sequel to Terms of Endearment titled The Evening Star (1996).[5][8][12]

In the spring of 2012, he served as writer and producer of the TV show GCB.[5][8][11] In the same year, it was reported that Harling was adapting Soapdish into a musical.[5][13]

Personal life

He is Presbyterian and openly gay.[7][13] He owns the Oaklawn Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana.[14][15]

Filmography

Writer

Producer

Director

References

  1. [1]
    Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home, Obituary: Margaret Jones Harling, Margaret Jones Harling Obituary
  2. [2]
    "Robert Harling - Alliance Theatre". alliancetheatre.org.
  3. [3]
    Kim Hubbard, Robert Harling, Author of a Hit Comedy Based on a Family Tragedy, People, Vol. 29, No. 3, January 25, 1988
  4. [4]
    Julia Reed, The Interview: Robert Harling, Garden & Gun, December 2012 – January 2013
  5. [5]
    Brooks Barnes, Sweet Tea and Tart Women, The New York Times, February 29, 2012
  6. [6]
    Anne McCracken, Mary Semel, A broken heart still beats: after your child dies, Hazelden Publishing, 2000, p. 87
  7. [7]
    Jeremy Kinser, Steel Magnolias Back in Bloom, The Advocate, October 25, 2012
  8. [8]
    "Robert Harling". IMDb.
  9. [9]
    Karen Hollinger, In the company of women: contemporary female friendship films, Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1998, p. 75
  10. [10]
    Tara McPherson, Reconstructing Dixie: Race, Gender, and Nostalgia in the Imagined South, Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2003, p. 159
  11. [11]
    Tanner Transky, Robert Harling: The Man Who Loves Women, Entertainment Weekly, April 13, 2012
  12. [12]
    Peter C. Rollins, The Columbia companion to American history on film, New York City: Columbia University Press, 2007 p. 494
  13. [13]
    Lisa Rosen, Robert Harling, Darren Star breathe life into 'GCB', The Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2012
  14. [14]
    Foundation, Joyous Coast (April 1, 2003). Natchitoches. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-1499-4 – via Google Books.
  15. [15]
    "Oaklawn Plantation--Cane River National Heritage Area: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary". www.nps.gov.
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