Dennis Lehane | |
|---|---|
 Lehane in 2010 | |
| Born | (1965-08-04)August 4, 1965 (age 60) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist, screenwriter |
| Alma mater | Eckerd College Florida International University |
| Genre | Crime fiction,mystery fiction |
| Spouse | Chisa Lehane |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | |
| www | |
Dennis Lehane (/ləˈheɪn/lə-HAYN; born August 4, 1965[1]) is an American author and screenwriter. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, includingA Drink Before the War. Four of his novels have been adapted into films of the same names:Clint Eastwood'sMystic River (2003),Martin Scorsese'sShutter Island (2010), andGone Baby Gone (2007) andLive by Night (2016), both directed byBen Affleck. His short story "Animal Rescue" was also adapted into the filmThe Drop, noted for being the final film role for actorJames Gandolfini.
Lehane was born and raised in theDorchester neighborhood ofBoston, Massachusetts. He lived in the Boston area most of his life, where he sets most of his books, but now lives insouthern California.[2] He spent summers on Fieldston Beach inMarshfield.[3] Lehane is the youngest of five children. His father was a foreman forSears & Roebuck, and his mother worked in a Boston public school cafeteria.[4] Both of his parents emigrated fromIreland.[5] Lehane is a graduate ofEckerd College inSt. Petersburg, Florida.
His brother, Gerry Lehane, who is two and a half years older than Dennis, trained at theTrinity Repertory Company in Providence and became an actor in New York in 1990. Gerry is a member of the Invisible City Theatre Company.[6]
Lehane is married to Chisa Lehane. He has two children from a previous marriage.
He is a graduate ofBoston College High School (a Jesuit prep school),[5]Eckerd College (where he found his passion for writing),[7] and the graduate program increative writing atFlorida International University inMiami, Florida. He occasionally made guest appearances as himself in theABC comedy/drama TV seriesCastle.
Lehane's first novel,A Drink Before the War (1994), which introduced the recurring characters Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, won the 1995Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel. The fourth novel in the series,Gone, Baby, Gone, was adapted into afilm of the same title in 2007; it was directed byBen Affleck and starredCasey Affleck andMichelle Monaghan as Kenzie and Gennaro. Commenting on the movie after a sneak peek, Lehane said, "I saw the movie and it's terrific, I wasn't gonna say anything if I didn't like it but it's really terrific."[8] Reportedly, Lehane "has never wanted to write the screenplays for the films [based on his own books], because he says he has 'no desire to operate on my own child.'"[3]
Lehane's novelMystic River was adapted into a film in 2003; also calledMystic River and directed byClint Eastwood, it starredSean Penn,Tim Robbins, andKevin Bacon. Lehane can be briefly seen waving from a car in the parade scene at the end of the film. The novel itself was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award and won theAnthony Award and theBarry Award for Best Novel, the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction, and France'sPrix Mystère de la critique.
Lehane's first play,Coronado, debuted in New York in December 2005, produced by Invisible City Theater Company. The play had its regional premiere at American Stage in St. Petersburg in April 2006[9] and its Midwest premiere in the fall of 2007 with Steep Theatre Company inChicago.Coronado is based on his acclaimed short storyUntil Gwen,[10] which was originally published inThe Atlantic Monthly and was selected for bothThe Best American Short Stories andThe Best Mystery Short Stories of 2005.[6]
Lehane described working on his historical novel,The Given Day,[11] as "a five- or six-year project." the novel opens in 1918 and encompasses the 1919Boston Police Strike and its aftermath.[12] According to Lehane, "The strike changed everything. It had a big effect on the unionization movement, andProhibition came on the heels of that, thenCalvin Coolidge promising to break the unions. That's all linked to what's going on now.".[12] While Lehane's epic novel centers on the 1919 Boston police strike, it contains a national sweep and may be the first of a trilogy or perhaps a four-book series.[13] Lehane called the novel his "great white whale" and said that when he finally finished it, he would "either write a sequel—or take a break from the cops and return to Patrick and Angie."[8] The novel was published in October 2008.[14]
On October 22, 2007, Paramount Pictures announced that it had optionedShutter Island withMartin Scorsese attached as director.[15] TheLaeta Kalogridis-scripted adaptation hasLeonardo DiCaprio playing U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, "who is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island."[16]Mark Ruffalo plays U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule.[17] Production started in March 2008;Shutter Island was released on February 19, 2010.
In 2010 Lehane publishedMoonlight Mile, his sixth book in the Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series, and his first of that genre in 11 years.[18] He publishedWorld Gone By in March 2015.
Lehane was appointed to the board of trustees of theBoston Public Library by MayorThomas Menino in December 2011.[19]
Lehane'sSmall Mercies received praise fromRichard Russo, who said: "Think of all your favorite hard-boiled authors (Hammett? Chandler? Ross Macdonald? Robert Parker?) and their tough guy heroes (Spade? Marlowe? Lew Archer? Spenser?). Not one of them could take Lehane's Mary Pat in a fair fight, and they wouldn't last a day in his Southie."[20]
Since becoming a literary success, Lehane has taught at several colleges. He taught fiction writing and serves as a member of the board of directors for the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program atPine Manor College inChestnut Hill, Massachusetts.[21] He has also taught advanced fiction writing atHarvard University.
In May 2005, Lehane was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree fromEckerd College and was appointed to Eckerd's board of trustees later that year. As of June 2006, he was living temporarily inSt. Petersburg, Florida, and teaching as writer-in-residence at Eckerd (usually during the spring semester), where he also co-directs the Writers in Paradise conference each January.[22]
Lehane wrote and directed an independent film calledNeighborhoods[citation needed] in the mid-1990s. Later described as similar toGood Will Hunting, it was set in Boston's working class areas likeSouthie and Dorchester. Its production ended in 1996, more than a year before the better-knownGood Will Hunting.
Lehane joined the writing staff of theHBO drama seriesThe Wire for the third season in 2004.[23][24] Lehane wrote the teleplay for the episode "Dead Soldiers" from a story by series creator and executive producerDavid Simon.[25][26] Lehane made a cameo appearance in the third-season episode, "Middle Ground," as Sullivan, an officer in charge of special equipment.[27][28] Lehane has commented that he was impressed by the show's creators (David Simon andEd Burns) having such an ear for authentic street slang.[29] Lehane returned as a writer for the fourth season in 2006 and wrote the teleplay for the episode "Refugees," from a story he co-wrote with producerEd Burns.[30][31] Lehane and the writing staff won theWriters Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series at theFebruary 2008 ceremony and the 2007Edgar Award for Best Television Feature/Mini-Series Teleplay for their work on the fourth season.[32][33] Lehane served as a writer for the fifth and final season in 2008 and was credited with the episode "Clarifications".[34][35] He and the writing staff were nominated for the WGA Award for Best Dramatic Series again at theFebruary 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season butMad Men won the award.[36]
He served as an executive producer forShutter Island. On November 27, 2012,The Boston Herald reported that Lehane would join the writing staff of HBO'sBoardwalk Empire as a writer and a creative consultant. He will consult with showrunnerTerence Winter on the outline of the fourth season of the show, and he confirmed that he would write at least one episode.[37]
Lehane wrote his first film screenplay,The Drop, as an adaptation of his short story "Animal Rescue". The film starsTom Hardy,Noomi Rapace, andJames Gandolfini (in his final film performance). Released September 12, 2014, the movie received positive reviews, particularly for its "smartly written script."[38][39] In 2013 Lehane was contracted to write a screenplay,Silk Road, about theonline black market.[40] That same year he was attached to adapt the script for the remake of the critically acclaimed French filmA Prophet, a prison drama.[41]
Kenzie & Gennaro series:
Coughlin series:
Stand-alones:
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Category | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Mystic River | USC Scripter Awards | Won[A] | [42] | |
| 2004 | Edgar Awards | Best Motion Picture Screenplay | Nominated[B] | [43] | |
| 2007 | The Wire | Best TV Feature or Mini-Series Teleplay | Won[C] | [32] | |
| WGA Awards | Outstanding Dramatic Series | Won[D] | [33] | ||
| 2008 | Nominated[E] | [36] | |||
| 2010 | Animal Rescue | Edgar Awards | Best Short Story | Nominated | [43] |
| 2013 | Live by Night | Best Novel | Won | [44] | |
| Boardwalk Empire | OFTA Awards | Best Writing in a Drama Series | Nominated[F] | [45] | |
| Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. | |||||
He has won other professional awards and honorary degrees: In Spring 2009, Lehane received the Joseph E. Connor Award and was made an honorary brother of the Phi Alpha Tau professional fraternity atEmerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Other brothers and Connor Award recipients includeRobert Frost,Elia Kazan,Jack Lemmon,Red Skelton,Edward R. Murrow,Yul Brynner, andWalter Cronkite.[46][47] Also in Spring 2009, Lehane presented the commencement speech atEmmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, and was awarded an honorary degree.[48] On October 6, 2015, Lehane won a spot inBest American Mystery Stories.
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