Tony Kushner
A playwright of monumental ambition who turned the AIDS crisis and American politics into a sweeping, poetic theatrical epic.
Born 1956 (age 70)·American playwright and screenwriter·Birthday: July 16·Baby Boomers
Biography
Tony Kushner writes with a historian's scope and a poet's heart, crafting works that grapple with the largest questions of politics, identity, and morality. His magnum opus, 'Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,' is a two-part, seven-hour theatrical event that reshaped American drama in the 1990s. It confronted the AIDS epidemic, Reagan-era politics, and spiritual yearning with a fearless, fantastical language that was both brutally honest and profoundly compassionate. The play earned him a Pulitzer Prize and cemented his status as a essential voice. Kushner's later work, from the screenplay for 'Lincoln' to the play 'Caroline, or Change,' continues to explore the messy machinery of history and the human cost of progress. His writing is characterized by intellectual rigor, moral urgency, and a belief in the transformative power of difficult conversation.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Tony was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Tony Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Tony's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 50
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 60
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 70
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for Best Play for his two-part epic 'Angels in America.'
- Wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln,' earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013 for his contributions to American theater.
- Is one of the few artists to be nominated for an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award (EGOT).
Did You Know?
He is a lifelong progressive activist and his works often engage directly with political themes.
Kushner's father was a woodwind musician who played in the Louisiana Philharmonic.
He wrote the libretto for the opera 'A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck,' with music by Jeanine Tesori.
He is a distinguished guest lecturer at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
“The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come.”
