Author

Jim Leonard, Jr. spoke with us from his office in California. He shared some interesting facts about his life and work.

Mr. Leonard was born and raised in Indiana. He grew up in the small town of New Haven where his exposure to the theater was understandably limited. His only real knowledge of theater before college was of Shakespeare, "I had a great high school teacher who taught Shakespeare." Leonard wanted to channel his talents into creative writing when he got to college but there was a problem: he couldn't write dialogue. So to learn those skills, he wrote a play called And They Danced Real Slow In Jackson. Leonard obviously learned well as the play received excellent reviews.

Jim Leonard, Jr. dropped out of graduate school by the time he wrote The Diviners for his undergraduate Alma Mater. The play won the American College Theatre Festival which brought it to the attention of the Circle Rep in New York. They invited him to join the company which allowed him to work with Lanford Wilson, a writer whose works first inspired him to write plays in college.

Mr. Leonard now works in Hollywood where he currently has scripts in development with Warner Brothers Television. He lives there with his wife, Linda, two sons - Abel (15) and Graston (13) - and his cat, Baby.

Other Works by Mr. Leonard can be found here.