Herlihy, James Leo.

James Leo Herlihy’s stories about the underside of American culture, told through the experiences of those outside of the mainstream, have garnered their author comparisons with Sherwood Anderson. Herlihy was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 27, 1927. After leaving high school, he enlisted in the Navy in 1945, receiving his overseas orders just two days before the end of World War II. From 1947–48, with money from the G.I. Bill, Herlihy attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina, a small, experimental institution whose faculty included Merce Cunningham, John Cage, William De Kooning, and other innovative figures in the arts. There, Herlihy studied art, music, and literature.

Herlihy formed strong relationships in the Black Mountain community, and his friendships with such figures as Anais Nin and the poet/potter M. C. (Mary Caroline) Richards would provide inspiration and support in his future creative endeavors. After an aptitude test indicated that his abilities might lie in the theatre, Herlihy moved to California and attended the Pasadena Playhouse College from 1948–1950. Over the next four years, Herlihy performed in about fifty plays in theaters along the West Coast. In the early sixties, he became a member of the Theater Company of Boston, and he continued acting, off and on, throughout his life. Some highlights of his theatrical career included roles in Edward Albee’s Zoo Story (which he performed in Paris and Boston in 1963) and in the film Four Friends (1982).

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