Brian Jay Corrigan

Brian Jay Corrigan studied law and literature at Tulane University, New Orleans, and is now a senior professor of Renaissance Literature in the university system of Georgia. When he was seventeen, he won the American Bicentennial Playwriting Competition with The Sound of the River (representing Lincoln University, an historically black institution) and has since seen a dozen of his plays professionally produced, published nineteen books, two novels, and is the general editor of a 6.5-million-word database, The Compendium of Renaissance Drama. He has received the Bancroft Prize in literature, the First Coast Writer’s Award (First Place), Georgia Author of the Year, and was a Finalist for the Townsend Award and nominee for the Pen/Faulkner Prize in literature. His work has been translated and published in seven countries.

Some lesser-known facts about BJC:

He is the son of actress/dancer/stunt woman Constance Joan Keyes, who danced with Vera-Ellen and appeared on London’s West End during the 1960s and 1970s and (as a child) acted in and performed her own trick riding stunts for the movie Rodeo Rhythm. (Her youthful trick riding in this otherwise forgetable1942 film is the only part of the movie to win praise on the Internet Movie Database (imbd))

He began acting professionally at the age of ten when he played Prince Arthur in Shakespeare’s King John.

He auditioned for the part of Luke Skywalker (and was called back—but the Force was not with him).

He once performed on tour with Katharine Hepburn and can be glimpsed in outtakes of a number of movies including Being There (in a sequence with Peter Sellers) and Oh, God! (in a sequence with Terri Garr). He is quoted as saying, "I am a 'has been', but at least I has been . . . sort of."

He has directed, produced, dramaturged, and/or acted in all but a handful of Shakespeare’s plays.

He has delivered the keynote address for half a dozen international Shakespeare conferences including at the Shakespeare Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.

He founded the G.L.O.B.E. theatrical company, the Trahlyta Theatre Project, and Mountain Laurels literary magazine.

He is a member of the Eton College (UK) Henry VI Society.

He was on the archeological teams that uncovered both the Rose and Globe playhouse foundations in London.

He is a celebrated international performer in and creator of 'bizarre magic' and honorary lifetime member of The British Society of Mystery Entertainers.

Sir Ian McKellen once personally ordered him out of London’s Harold Pinter Theatre--and therein hangs a tale.