Author photo on the book jacket of his novel The Last Picture Show, 1966
Born
Larry Jeff McMurtry (1936-06-03)June 3, 1936 Archer City, Texas, U.S.
Died
March 25, 2021(2021-03-25) (aged 84) Archer City, Texas, U.S.
Occupation
Novelist
screenwriter
essayist
antiquarian bookseller
Education
University of North Texas (BA)
Rice University (MA)
Years active
1961–2021
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936 – March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.[1] His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations (13 wins). He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.
His 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries that earned 18 Emmy Award nominations (seven wins). The subsequent three novels in his Lonesome Dove series were adapted as three more miniseries, earning eight more Emmy nominations. McMurtry and co-writer Diana Ossana adapted the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins, including McMurtry and Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014, McMurtry received the National Humanities Medal.[2]
In Tracy Daugherty's 2023 biography of McMurtry, the biographer quotes critic Dave Hickey as saying about McMurtry:[3]
"Larry is a writer, and it's kind of like being a critter. If you leave a cow alone, he'll eat grass. If you leave Larry alone, he'll write books. When he's in public, he may say hello and goodbye, but otherwise he is just resting, getting ready to go write."[3]
^Hugh Rawson Archived August 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine "Screenings," American Heritage, April/May 2006.
^"Larry McMurtry". The National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
^ abLarry McMurtry: A Life by Tracy Daugherty, St. Martin's Press, 2023, page 201. ISBN 978-1-250-28233-0.
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936 – March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the...
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