Jerry Sterner

Jerry Sterner
Born	Jerry Joseph Sterner
Notable work	Other People's Money

Jerry Joseph Sterner (15 September 1938 – 11 June 2001) was an American businessman and playwright,[1] best known for the play, Other People's Money: The Ultimate Seduction, later, adapted as the 1991 romantic-comedy-drama film.

Early life

Jerry Sterner was born in the Bronx. Sterner attended City College of New York.[2]

Career

Sterner sold tokens for the New York City Transit Authority,[2] on the night shift, where, in nearly six years, he wrote seven plays in the booth.[2]

In 1984, at the age of 46, he left a real estate business, as president of David C. Gold & Company,[2] to become a writer full-time. His early plays include Tit for Tat[3] and Be Happy for Me.[2][4]

His first success was Other People's Money,[5] which opened at the Minetta Lane Theater in 1989, and ran for several years. A play for 3 males and 2 females,[5] It starred Kevin Conway, Mercedes Ruehl, James Murtaugh, Arch Johnson, and Scotty Bloch.

He worked on several musicals, including one with Jerry Bock, called 1040.[6]

Sterner was a regular contributor to the business section of the New York Times and Fortune magazine.[7]

Plays

• Top 40 (?)[3]
• Tit for Tat (?)[3]
• Be Happy for Me (1986)[2][4][8]

Off Broadway play starring David Groh, Philip Bosco and Priscilla Lopez.

• Other People's Money: The Ultimate Seduction (1989)[9][10][11][12][13][14]
• Topper (1997)
• 1040 (1998)
• Crossing the Double White Line (2005)[2]

Personal life

In 1966 he married Jean Sterner. They have two daughters, Emily James and the writer, Kate Shaffar.[2]

He is buried behind his old building in Brooklyn, in Washington Cemetery with a headstone sardonically inscribed: "Finally, a plot."[15]

References

1. "Jerry Sterner, Author of Other People's Money, Dead at 62". playbill.com. June 15, 2001. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
2. Pogrebin, Robin (15 June 2001). "Jerry Sterner, 62, Playwright; Wrote 'Other People's Money'". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
3. Potempa, Philip (27 August 2013). "OFFBEAT: Hoosier actor 'in the money' with new stage role". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
4. Sterner, Jerry (1987). Be Happy for Me: A Comedy. Samuel French, Inc. ISBN 978-0-573-69049-5.
5. Sterner, Jerry. "Other People's Money". Concord Theatricals. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
6. "Bock/Sterner Musical 1040 Taxes Texas, Nov. 14-23". 14 November 1997.
7. Hofler, Robert (14 June 2001). "Jerry Sterner". Variety. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
8. Be Happy For Me, NYTimes review
9. Sterner, Jerry (1990). Other People's Money: The Ultimate Seduction. Applause Theatre Book. ISBN 978-1-55783-062-3.
10. "Show History at Shea's 710 Theatre". Shea's Performing Arts Center. Retrieved 14 October 2023. Studio Arena Theatre 1991 - 1992 Season ... Other People's Money by Jerry Sterner
11. "Hasty Pudding Theatre : Other People's Money, 1991". archivesspace.binghamton.edu. Retrieved 14 October 2023. Program for Trinity Repertory Company's production of Other People's Money by Jerry Sterner, presented by The Poets' Theatre at the Hasty Pudding Theatre in Cambridge, MA, directed by Richard Jenkins. Stars included William Damkoehler, William Cain, Barbara Orson, Jack Willis, Anne Scurria.
12. Pugh, Ian (4 October 2017). "'Other People's Money' and the importance of local action". The River Reporter. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
13. Johnson, Lawrence B. (28 September 2013). "To corporate raider, the blood is just business in 'Other People's Money' at Shattered Globe". Chicago On the Aisle. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
14. "production-list" (PDF). theoldglobe.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
15. Walsh, Kevin. "J Marks the Spot". Splice Today. Retrieved 14 October 2023.

External links

• Jerry Sterner at IMDb
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9199319/jerry-joseph-sterner