Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
RABE, David
RABE, David. (Dubuque, IA, Mar. 10,1940- ). Rabe attended LORAS ACADEMY and played football all four years as a defensive linebacker and offensive running back. His play was good enough to earn him a college scholarship to LORAS COLLEGE, but he turned it down. In his senior year at the Academy, he became interested in acting and had roles in several plays at the former girls' school Immaculate Conception Academy. He acted in plays at CLARKE COLLEGE and graduated from LORAS COLLEGE with degrees in English and psychology.
After returning from military service in Vietnam, he attended college at Villanova where a professor urged him to write plays. His first The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, illustrating war's effects on victims and combatants, led to critical acclaim and Rabe receiving the Off Broadway award, Obie, in 1971. In 1972 Sticks and Stones, his second play, received the coveted Tony, theater's highest honor, and a special Critics' Circle citation for best play.
Rabe's controversial writing continued in his The Boom Boom Room in 1972. In 1977, Streamers won the Drama Desk Award, the Critics' Award, and was made into a movie directed by Robert Altman.
Rabe achieved film success with his screenplays I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can and Casualties of War starring Sean Penn. In 1989 Rabe directed his critically acclaimed Hurlyburly at the Westwood Playhouse in California.
After success writing plays and screenplays, Rabe turned to novels. In June 2008, his first "Dinosaurs on the Roof" was published.