"Possibly the Finest"

A prize-winning playwright while he was in college, Frank D. Gilroy '50 is still writing plays and still winning the favorable attention of both audiences and critics. His most recent play, TheLast Notch, was an original television script presented in April on the United States Steel program over ABC, and described in The New York Times "as very possibly the finest Western play yet done by 'live' television — an excellent production with sustained mood, suspense and characterization."

Considering Gilroy's competition in the Western field, this is high praise. Not only was The Last Notch a script that aroused the interest of film producers, it brought the observation from one producer that it would make a fine opera. Gilroy's talents appear to combine in one taut dramatic unit, depth of characterization and fast action.

This ability was revealed in his first plays. Shortly before graduation, Gilroy won recognition as a writer for television when he tied for first place and received $250 in a CBS-TV scriptwriting contest for college students. Also during his senior year, he received both the Eleanor Frost prize of $100 for the best original play by an undergraduate, and COSO's $25 second prize, for TheGreat Art and A Present to the AntsFrom, Willie. In his junior year, Gilroy won third prize in a nation-wide contest for his entry, McClintock's Medal. He was recently married to the former Ruth Gaydos; they are living in New York.