Beth Henley famous quotes

03-24-2025

But here's the thing: what you do as a screenwriter is you sell your copyright. As a novelist, as a poet, as a playwright, you maintain your copyright
-- Beth Henley

#Novelists #Poet #Copyright
The next thing I wrote was in a writing class at night school. It was about a poor woman who worked at a dime store and who was all alone for Christmas in Laurel, Mississippi.
-- Beth Henley

#Christmas #Writing #School
I did write a couple of original screenplays, but I'd rather write plays
-- Beth Henley

#Couple #Writing #Play
It's called Sisters of the Winter Madrigal. It was interesting for me to see it done after so many years; because I wrote it and I didn't realize what a rage I was in.
-- Beth Henley

#Sister #Winter #Years
But when I got to SMU and decided to take a playwriting class, I said this isn't a bad idea. IfI write characters, they could be as dumb as me, and I don't have to be very smart.
-- Beth Henley

#Smart #Writing #Character
The impetus behind going to graduate school was a year after graduating from college spent in Dallas working at the dog food factory and Bank America and not having met success in my chosen field, which at that point was being an actress.
-- Beth Henley

#Dog #School #College
What I loved about the acting class was that you got to think all day long about a person that wasn't you, and figure out why they were sad and what they wanted, what they dreamed.
-- Beth Henley

#Thinking #Class #Long
I just loved being divorced from my own wretchedness.
-- Beth Henley

#Divorced
I love writing for the screen.
-- Beth Henley

#Writing
I was just restless with being in school; so I went out to Los Angeles.
-- Beth Henley

#School #Los Angeles #Restless
It was kind of enlightening to become a playwright.
-- Beth Henley

#Kind #Enlightening #Playwright
The most glorious thing about working in the collaborative art is when you have somebody like Susan Kingsley or Kathy Bates who are better than your play.
-- Beth Henley

#Art #Play #Art Is
I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, really in suburbia, so my mother was in community theatre plays
-- Beth Henley

#Mother #Play #Community
I tried to start a theatre in LA and failed miserably, but I was probably not meant to raise money
-- Beth Henley

#Theatre #Raises
Part of that is that New York has proved to be too much fun for me to live and work; I love New York so much.
-- Beth Henley

#New York #Fun #Too Much
My fault now is making my plays too short.
-- Beth Henley

#Play #Faults #Too Short
Some really good things kind of swing both ways and I like to see people that can swing really, really, really sad and horrible and terrible and really, really, really beautiful and funny.
-- Beth Henley

#Beautiful #Swings #People
Plays are so much more special if they've never ever had a production, but I think you can really work on a play and make it better with each production.
-- Beth Henley

#Thinking #Play #Special
My first few plays took place in the South and even The Lucky Spot was in the thirties but in Louisiana.
-- Beth Henley

#Play #Lucky #Louisiana
That was always my inclination, to start on a new play before the other one gets done, because at least you'll have something to go back to if that play gets trashed.
-- Beth Henley

#Play #Done
Somehow I got to be one of five or six actors that the directors would use as guinea pigs at this directing colloquium, where people pay to listen to and watch the directors direct.
-- Beth Henley

#Pigs #People #Directors
And all writing is creating or spinning dreams for other people so they won't have to bother doing it themselves.
-- Beth Henley

#Dream #Writing #Creating
I'm very into the first production of the show
-- Beth Henley

#Firsts #Shows
It's really interesting that whenever you do something that is so out of character, like having an emotional outburst, that you don't get in trouble
-- Beth Henley

#Character #Emotional #Interesting
In movement class, you had to lie on the floor and get your alignment in to pass the class
-- Beth Henley

#Lying #Class #Movement
I love to work, although sometimes I can spend whole days doing nothing more than picking the lint off the carpet and talking to my mother on the phone.
-- Beth Henley

#Mother #Phones #Talking

You may also like:

Arthur Miller
Playwright
Bill Pullman
Actor
Bruce Beresford
Film director
Chris Frantz
Musician
David Byrne
Musician
David Mamet
Playwright
Ed Harris
Actor
Edward Albee
Playwright
Glenne Headly
Film actress
Holly Hunter
Actress
Jerry Harrison
Songwriter
Marsha Norman
Playwright
Paula Vogel
Playwright
Sissy Spacek
Film actress
Stephen Tobolowsky
Actor
Tina Howe
Playwright
Tina Weymouth
Musician
Wendy Wasserstein
Playwright
Willie Morris
Writer
Thomas Schlamme
Television Director