Sarah Blacher Cohen (June 11, 1936 in Appleton, Wisconsin, – November 10, 2008 in Albany, New York) was an American writer, scholar, and playwright, and a professor at SUNY Albany for 30 years. Her area of specialty was Jewish American fiction. Her published books include Comic Relief: Humor in Contemporary American Literature, [1] Saul Bellow's Enigmatic Laughter (1974), [2] and Cynthia Ozick's Comic Art: From Levity to Liturgy. [3] [4] She edited From Hester Street to Hollywood: The Jewish-American Stage and Screen (Jewish Literature and Culture Series), Making a Scene: The Contemporary Drama of Jewish-American Women, [5] and Jewish Wry: Essays on Jewish Humor. Her plays include The Ladies Locker Room, [6] and Molly Picon's Return Engagement, a biographical play with music on the star of Yiddish theater. She collaborated with Joanne Koch, starting in 1989 on Sophie, Totie, and Belle, [7] a musical on performers Sophie Tucker, Totie Fields, and Belle Barth. 'She and Joanne Koch also co-authored the plays Danny Kaye: Supreme Court Jester, [8] Soul Sisters, Henrietta Szold: Woman of Valor, [9] an adaptation of Saul Bellow stories entitled Saul Bellow's Stories Onstage: The Old System and a Silver Dish, [10] and the multicultural musical Soul Sisters. [11] Cohen and Koch co-edited an anthology of ten plays Shared Stages: Ten American Dramas of Blacks and Jews, [12] including Driving Miss Daisy, Fires in the Mirror, and Soul Sisters. She collaborated with Isaac Bashevis Singer on the off-Broadway play Schlemiel the First. Cohen also gave talks and delivered papers, including "The Unkosher Comediennes: From Sophie Tucker to Joan Rivers." [13] Her husband was Gary Cohen. She died of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease on November 10, 2008 age 72.
References
- ^ "Comic Relief: Humor in Contemporary American Literature by Cohen Sarah Blacher Ed.: Fine Hardcover (1979) | Shadow Books".
- ^ "Item no longer available". AbeBooks. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ Search resultsiupress.indiana.edu Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Book Details".
- ^ Cohen, Sarah Blacher (1986). From Hester Street to Hollywood: The Jewish-American Stage and Screen. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253203708.
- ^ Cohen, Sarah Blacher (April 1997). Making a Scene: The Contemporary Drama of Jewish-American Women. Syracuse University Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780815604044.
- ^ "'Sophie, Totie and Belle' brings back iconic trio in fine fashion". palmbeachartspaper.com. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "New York State Writers Institute - Danny Kaye: Supreme Court Jester".
- ^ "New York State Writers Institute - Henrietta Szold: Woman of Valor".
- ^ "Joanne Koch". www.midlandauthors.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016.
- ^ "Review: Soul Sisters (Clockwise Theatre) | Chicago Theater Beat". chicagotheaterbeat.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
- ^ Shared Stages.
- ^ "The Catskills Institute".
External links
- Plays by Joanne Koch & Sarah Blacker
- New York Times review of Sophie, Totie and Belle
- New York Times review of Schlemiel The First
- Ezra Cappell (University of Texas, El Paso) "Sarah Blacher Cohen's Comic Drama of Disability" Jewish Women's Writing of the 1990s and Beyond - Abstract
- Comments from Cohen from a Philadelphia Inquirer article "Is 'Borat' Funny or a Hate Film?" (November 14, 2006)
- Bookfinder.com listing of Sarah Blacher Cohen
- Times Union obituary notice for Sarah Blacher Cohen
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1936 births
- 2008 deaths
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- American book editors
- Neurological disease deaths in New York (state)
- Writers from Appleton, Wisconsin
- University at Albany, SUNY faculty
- American women dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American women writers
- American women academics
- 21st-century American women