Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Marsha Norman showed an interest in theatre and the arts at a young age. She attended Agnes Scott College in Georgia for her Bachelor's Degree, and then earned her Master's Degree from the University of Louisville.
Norman first established her career with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, a non-profit regional theatre, with her first play Getting Out --it later went to Off-Broadway in 1979. Although she moved to New York City, Norman continued to write and collaborate with the Actors Theatre. Her most notable early success came with the 1982 play 'night, Mother, which earned rave reviews on Broadway and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983. Although this success offered Norman opportunities to write in Hollywood, and was in demand, she preferred theatre to film.
In 1991, Norman won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for The Secret Garden. She has other musical credits, including The Red Shoes (1993), The Color Purple (2005), and The Bridges of Madison County (2014). She has been honored throughout the playwriting world, from the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize to the William Inge Festival. She taught at the Julliard School.
Currently, Marsha Norman serves as the vice-president of The Dramatists Guild of America.
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