Susan Nussbaum
A young white woman with curly dark hair, smiling
Susan Nussbaum, from a 1984 newspaper photo
Born
Susan Ruth Nussbaum

(1953-12-12)December 12, 1953
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedApril 28, 2022(2022-04-28) (aged 68)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Playwright, novelist, activist
Parent
RelativesKaren Nussbaum (sister)

Susan Ruth Nussbaum (December 12, 1953 – April 28, 2022) was an American actress, author, playwright, and disability rights activist.[1][2]

Early life and education

Nussbaum was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Highland Park, the daughter of Mike Nussbaum and Annette Brenner Nussbaum. Her father, a former exterminator, became a well-known actor and director;[3] her mother was a publicist.[2] Her sister Karen Nussbaum is a noted labor leader.[4]

Nussbaum studied acting at Roosevelt University and Goodman School of Drama, both in Chicago. Nussbaum used a wheelchair after she survived being hit by a car in her twenties.[5] "When I became a wheelchair user in the late '70s," she wrote in a 2012 essay, "all I knew about being disabled I learned from reading books and watching movies, and that scared the shit out of me."[6]

Career

As a performer, Nussbaum appeared a comic revue, Staring Back (1984),[7] as Emma Goldman in Frank Galati's She Always Said, Pablo (1987), in another comic review, The Plucky and Spunky Show (1990),[8] in her own one-woman show, Mishuganismo, directed by her father, in Activities of Daily Living (1994),[9] and in No One As Nasty (2000).[10] She worked with Marca Bristo on Access Living,[11][12] and started a group of disabled girls and young women, The Empowered FeFes.[13][14][15] She directed a production of Michael Vitali's G-Man! (1995),[9] and two productions of Mike Ervin's The History of Bowling (1999).[2][16]

Riva Lehrer painted a portrait of Nussbaum in 1998.[16][17] In 2008, Nussbaum was named one of Utne Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World." Her debut novel Good Kings, Bad Kings (2013) won the 2012 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.[18][19] The novel is set in an institution for disabled young people in the Chicago area.[20][21]

Works

  • Staring Back (1983, sketch comedy show, co-written with Lawrence Perkins)[7]
  • The Plucky and Spunky Show (1990)[8]
  • Mishuganismo (1992, play)[22]
  • Telethon (1993, play, co-written with William Hammack)[9]
  • Activities of Daily Living (1994, play, co-writer)[23]
  • No One as Nasty (2000, play)[10]
  • Crippled Sisters (play)[24]
  • "Why are Fictional Characters with Disabilities So Unreal?" (2012, essay)[6]
  • Good Kings, Bad Kings (2013, novel)[25]
  • Code of the Freaks (2020, documentary, co-written and co-produced by Nussbaum)[26]

Personal life

Nussbaum had a daughter, Taina Rodriguez.[24] She died from pneumonia in 2022, at the age of 68, at her home in Chicago.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 Williams, Annabelle (May 12, 2022). "Susan Nussbaum, 68, Who Pressed for Disability Rights in Her Plays, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kogan, Rick (April 29, 2022). "Author, disability activist and actor Susan Nussbaum dies, after a career of pushing boundaries". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ Galloway, Paul (December 28, 1984). "Stage is the Nussbaums' Ticket". Chicago Tribune. pp. 55, 57. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Karen Nussbaum". Working America. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  5. ↑ Haupt, Jennifer (September 4, 2013). "Susan Nussbaum: My Disability Was Nothing Personal". Psychology Today. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Nussbaum, Susan (November 21, 2012). "Why Are Fictional Characters With Disabilities So Unreal?". HuffPost. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Koyama, Christine (September 12, 1984). "Disabled Actors Shine in 'Staring Back'". Chicago Tribune. p. 73. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 Christiansen, Richard (December 4, 1990). "Remains Theatre's Comedy Dead Serious About the Disabled". Chicago Tribune. p. 24. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 3 Obejas, Achy (March 10, 1995). "Nussbaum settles into 'Telethon' role". Chicago Tribune. p. 224. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 Taubeneck, Anne (June 18, 2000). "The 'crip universe': Play finds humor in deep-seated problems". Chicago Tribune. p. 246. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Terkel, Studs (August 28, 1981). "Interviewing Susan Nussbaum and Michael Pachovas". The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  12. ↑ Ogintz, Eileen (January 19, 1982). "Handicapped find organizing can make their presence felt". Chicago Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Ellison, Joy (May 10, 2022). "Rainbow Rant: Remembering Susan Nussbaum". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Passages: Playwright/disability-rights activist Susan Nussbaum dies". Windy City Times. April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  15. ↑ Brotman, Barbara (August 22, 2001). "Talking without Taboo". Chicago Tribune. p. 97. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 Ervin, Mike (May 12, 2022). "Susan Nussbaum, 1953-2022". Chicago Reader. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  17. ↑ Lehrer, Riva (1998). "Susan Nussbaum". Riva Lehrer Art. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Rewriting Images Of People With Disabilities". WBUR. December 24, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Interview with Susan Nussbaum". Washington Independent Review of Books. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  20. ↑ Brown, Emma (May 22, 2013). "Susan Nussbaum's Social Engagement". Interview Magazine. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  21. ↑ Wood, Caitlin (August 29, 2013). "An Interview With Disability Activist and "Good Kings Bad Kings" Author Susan Nussbaum". Bitch Media. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  22. ↑ Obejas, Achy (January 16, 1992). "Solidarity and Loneliness". Chicago Reader. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  23. ↑ Buck, Genevieve (July 29, 1994). "'Daily Living' With a Twist". Chicago Tribune. p. 183. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. 1 2 Worley, Sam (May 30, 2013). "Susan Nussbaum's next act". Chicago Reader. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  25. ↑ Wegner, Gesine (May 20, 2013). "Review of Good Kings Bad Kings". Disability Studies Quarterly. 33 (3). doi:10.18061/dsq.v33i3.3786. ISSN 2159-8371.
  26. ↑ "About the Film". Code of the Freaks. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
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