American dramatist
Robert Marasco (September 22, 1936 – December 6, 1998)[1] was an American horror novelist, playwright, and teacher. He is best known for his 1970 Broadway play Child's Play, and his supernatural novel Burnt Offerings (1973), which was adapted into a 1976 film of the same name.
Early life
Born in the Bronx, New York City, Marasco attended Regis High School in Manhattan and graduated from Fordham University.[2] After graduating from college, Marasco taught Latin at his high school alma mater.
Career
During his time teaching at Regis High School, Marasco wrote Child's Play.[3] Child's Play debuted at the Royale Theater in New York on February 17, 1970. Starring Pat Hingle and Ken Howard, the play dealt with demonic doings at a Roman Catholic boys' school. Marasco drew both on his experience as a teacher of Latin and Greek classics at Regis High School and a newspaper account he had read about a teacher who, after assigning his students some homework, immediately killed himself by jumping out of a window.
Child's Play garnered a rave review on opening night from Clive Barnes of The New York Times, followed by a Tony nomination for Best Play of the Year.[4] The production ran for 342 performances between February and December 1970.[4] Following a less successful London production at the Queen's Theatre in 1971, the play was made into a film in 1972; Sidney Lumet directed, and the cast included James Mason, Robert Preston, and Beau Bridges.
After Child's Play, he published two novels: Burnt Offerings in 1973, and Parlor Games in 1979.
Burnt Offerings was adapted into a 1976 film directed by Dan Curtis, starring Karen Black and Oliver Reed, with such veteran actors as Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, and Bette Davis in small roles.[5]
Later life and death
Marasco spent his later life in High Falls, New York.[6] He died of lung cancer at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset on December 6, 1998,[6] leaving several unproduced screenplays and the finished play, Our Sally. He was survived by his father, Anthony Marasco, and his sister, Carole Melillo.[6]
