Portrait of Bruce Norris (playwright)

Birthday profile

Bruce Norris (playwright)

Bruce Norris, playwright

Born
May 16, 1960
Age in 2026
66
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1960

About Bruce Norris (playwright)

Bruce Norris (born May 16, 1960) is an American character actor and playwright associated with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago. His play Clybourne Park won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. == Career == After graduating from Northwestern University in 1982 with a degree in theatre, Norris set out to become an actor. He performed at Victory Gardens Theater, the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and on Broadway. His Broadway acting credits include David Hirson's Wrong Mountain (January to February 2000), Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter (April to June 1997), and Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues (March 1985 to June 1986). During this time he was also "hired and fired from a number of television pilots." These rejections led to writing his first play, The Actor Retires, produced in a late-night venue in Chicago in 1991 and then as a radio play for later broadcast by WFMT-FM as part of the Guest Quarters Hotel's series Chicago Theatres on the Air in 1992. Since 2000, Steppenwolf Theatre has produced ten of Norris's plays. Purple Heart was produced at the Steppenwolf Theatre from July 5, 2002, to August 25, 2002, with direction by Anna D. Shapiro and featuring Laurie Metcalf and Rosemary Prinz. The play relates the story of a Vietnam War widow and was commissioned by Steppenwolf. We All Went Down to Amsterdam was produced at the Steppenwolf Theatre from June 12, 2003, to July 13, 2003, directed by Amy Morton.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Bruce Norris (playwright) timeline

  1. The play premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on February 21, 2010, and on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on April 19, 2012, and won the Tony Award for Best Play following its Pulitzer win.
  2. His play Clybourne Park won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
  3. On April 18, 2011, Norris was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Clybourne Park.

The world when Bruce Norris (playwright) was born

Bruce Norris (playwright) was born in 1960. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1960

  • #1 song"The Twist" – Chubby Checker
  • Top movieThe Apartment
  • Top TV showGunsmoke
  • Best-selling bookTo Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentCassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) wins Olympic gold in boxing
  • Top headlineJFK elected as youngest US president
  • Technology milestoneFirst working laser demonstrated
  • Defining fadThe Twist dance craze
  • Notable inventionLaser
  • World population3.03 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championPittsburgh Pirates (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population180.7M

1960 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Bruce Norris (playwright)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19602026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,700$435,000
Average income$7,400$67,500
Minimum wage$1.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.69$11.95
Postage stamp$0.04$0.73
Population180.7M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.