Mary C. Henderson

Mary Carmen Henderson ( Malanga; July 16, 1928 – January 3, 2012) was an American historian of theater. A 1983 Guggenheim Fellow, she was author of The City and the Theatre and Theater in America (1986), among other works. She served as the curator of the Museum of the City of New York's Theater Collection from 1978 until 1985.

Biography Early life and career Henderson was born Mary Carmen Malanga on July 16, 1928, in Newark, New Jersey, the youngest of five children of Divina ( Gianattasio) and Thomas Malanga. She obtained a BA from Douglass College in 1949 and her MA in speech and theater from the University of Pittsburgh in 1951. she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship "for a view of American theatre through its collaborators". She won the Theatre Library Association's 1987 George Freedley Memorial Award for her book Theater in America (1986), which later became popular in theater courses.

She was a member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee from 1980 until 1992. She was a contributor to such publications as The New York Times, at one point criticizing Neil Simon for the excessive use of dinner tables. At the time, she lived in Congers, New York. Theater in America (1986) Broadway Ballyhoo (1989) The New Amsterdam (1997) Meilziner: Master of Modern Stage Design (2000/2001) Stars on Stage (2005) The Story of 42nd Street (2008)