{{short description|American dramatist}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = <!-- defaults to article title when left blank --> | honorific_suffix = | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | image_upright = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pronunciation = | birth_name = Jerry Joseph Sterner<!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per WP:DOB. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = | baptised = <!-- will not display if birth_date is entered --> | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (enter DEATH date then BIRTH date (e.g., ...|1967|8|31|1908|2|28}} use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> | death_place = | death_cause = <!-- should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability --> | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | burial_place = <!-- may be used instead of resting_place and resting_place_coordinates (displays "Burial place" as label) --> | burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | monuments = | other_names = | siglum = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = ''Other People's Money''<!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works"; or by |label_name=, which produces label "Label(s)" --> | style = | height = <!-- "X cm", "X m" or "X ft Y in" plus optional reference (conversions are automatic) --> | television = | spouse = <!-- use article title or common name --> | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = | parents = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters --> | mother = <!-- may be used (optionally with father parameter) in place of parents parameter (displays "Parent(s)" as label) --> | father = <!-- may be used (optionally with mother parameter) in place of parents parameter (displays "Parent(s)" as label) --> | relatives = | family = | callsign = <!-- amateur radio, use if relevant --> | awards = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | signature = | signature_type = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}

'''Jerry Joseph Sterner''' (15 September 1938 – 11 June 2001) was an American businessman and playwright,<ref name="playbill/97262">{{cite web |title=Jerry Sterner, Author of Other People's Money, Dead at 62 |url=https://playbill.com/article/jerry-sterner-author-of-other-peoples-money-dead-at-62-com-97262 |website=playbill.com |access-date=14 October 2023 |date=June 15, 2001}}</ref><!-- https://www.playbill.com/person/jerry-sterner-1 https://www.playbill.com/person/jerry-sterner --> best known for the play, ''Other People's Money: The Ultimate Seduction'', later, adapted as the 1991 romantic-comedy-drama film.<!-- NOT https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/other-peoples-money-406524 -->

==Early life== Jerry Sterner was born in the Bronx. Sterner attended City College of New York.<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62">{{cite news |last1=Pogrebin |first1=Robin |title=Jerry Sterner, 62, Playwright; Wrote 'Other People's Money' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/15/arts/jerry-sterner-62-playwright-wrote-other-people-s-money.html |access-date=14 October 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=15 June 2001}}</ref>

==Career== Sterner sold tokens for the New York City Transit Authority,<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/> on the night shift, where, in nearly six years, he wrote seven plays in the booth.<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/>

In 1984, at the age of 46, he left a real estate business, as president of David C. Gold & Company,<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/> to become a writer full-time. His early plays include ''Tit for Tat''<ref name="nwitimes/actor-in-the-money"/> and ''Be Happy for Me''.<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/><ref name="isbn=978-0-573-69049-5"/>

His first success was ''Other People's Money'',<ref name="concordtheatricals/2296">{{cite web |last1=Sterner |first1=Jerry |title=Other People's Money |url=https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/2296/other-peoples-money |website=Concord Theatricals |access-date=14 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref> which opened at the Minetta Lane Theater in 1989, and ran for several years. A play for 3 males and 2 females,<ref name="concordtheatricals/2296"/> It starred Kevin Conway, Mercedes Ruehl, James Murtaugh, Arch Johnson, and Scotty Bloch.

He worked on several musicals, including one with Jerry Bock, called <em>1040</em>.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/bock-sterner-musical-1040-taxes-texas-nov-14-23-com-72137|title=Bock/Sterner Musical 1040 Taxes Texas, Nov. 14-23|date=14 November 1997}}</ref>

Sterner was a regular contributor to the business section of ''the New York Times'' and ''Fortune magazine''.<ref name="variety/1117801449">{{cite news |last1=Hofler |first1=Robert |title=Jerry Sterner |url=https://variety.com/2001/scene/people-news/jerry-sterner-1117801449/ |access-date=14 October 2023 |work=Variety |date=14 June 2001}}</ref>

==Plays== *''Top 40'' (?)<ref name="nwitimes/actor-in-the-money">{{cite news |last1=Potempa |first1=Philip |title=OFFBEAT: Hoosier actor 'in the money' with new stage role |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/columnists/offbeat/offbeat-hoosier-actor-in-the-money-with-new-stage-role/article_3835f7f3-ba59-567b-97bf-eb30c60e0807.html |access-date=14 October 2023 |work=The Times of Northwest Indiana |date=27 August 2013 |language=en}}</ref> *''Tit for Tat'' (?)<ref name="nwitimes/actor-in-the-money"/> *''Be Happy for Me'' (1986)<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/><ref name="isbn=978-0-573-69049-5">{{cite book |last1=Sterner |first1=Jerry |title=Be Happy for Me: A Comedy |date=1987 |publisher=Samuel French, Inc. |isbn=978-0-573-69049-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>[http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9A0DE3DB1F3EF93BA35752C0A960948260 Be Happy For Me], NYTimes review</ref><!-- https://playbill.com/article/jerry-sterner-author-of-other-peoples-money-dead-at-62-com-97262 --> ::Off Broadway play starring David Groh, Philip Bosco and Priscilla Lopez. *''Other People's Money: The Ultimate Seduction'' (1989)<ref name="isbn=978-1-55783-062-3">{{cite book |last1=Sterner |first1=Jerry |title=Other People's Money: The Ultimate Seduction |date=1990 |publisher=Applause Theatre Book |isbn=978-1-55783-062-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="sheas/history-studio-arena">{{cite web |title=Show History at Shea's 710 Theatre |url=https://www.sheas.org/show-history-studio-arena/ |website=Shea's Performing Arts Center |access-date=14 October 2023 |language=en |quote=Studio Arena Theatre 1991 - 1992 Season ... Other People's Money by Jerry Sterner}}</ref><ref name="archivesspace.binghamton/30449">{{cite web |title=Hasty Pudding Theatre : Other People's Money, 1991 |url=https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/archival_objects/30449 |website=archivesspace.binghamton.edu |access-date=14 October 2023 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="riverreporter/19575">{{cite news |last1=Pugh |first1=Ian |title='Other People's Money' and the importance of local action |url=https://riverreporter.com/stories/other-peoples-money-and-the-importance-of-local-action,19575 |access-date=14 October 2023 |work=The River Reporter |date=4 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014055150/https://riverreporter.com/stories/other-peoples-money-and-the-importance-of-local-action,19575 |archive-date=14 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="chicagoontheaisle/2013/other-peoples-money">{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Lawrence B. |title=To corporate raider, the blood is just business in 'Other People's Money' at Shattered Globe |url=https://chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/09/27/review-of-other-peoples-money-by-jerry-sterner-produced-by-shattered-globe-theatre-at-theater-wit/ |access-date=14 October 2023 |work=Chicago On the Aisle |date=28 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="theoldglobe/production-list">{{cite web |title=production-list |url=https://www.theoldglobe.org/globalassets/pdfs/globe-pdfs/production-list.pdf?id=23620 |website=theoldglobe.org |access-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014065409/https://www.theoldglobe.org/globalassets/pdfs/globe-pdfs/production-list.pdf?id=23620 |archive-date=14 October 2023}}</ref> *''Topper'' (1997)<!-- https://playbill.com/article/jerry-sterner-author-of-other-peoples-money-dead-at-62-com-97262 https://www.playbill.com/production/topper --> *''1040'' (1998)<!-- https://playbill.com/article/bock-sterner-musical-1040-taxes-texas-nov-14-23-com-72137 --> *''Crossing the Double White Line'' (2005)<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/><!-- https://playbill.com/article/cts-stamford-center-erects-empire-musical-about-the-famed-building-in-2004-05-com-120461 --> <!-- *'''' *'''' *'''' *'''' *'''' -->

==Personal life== In 1966 he married Jean Sterner. They have two daughters, Emily James and the writer, Kate Shaffar.<ref name="nytimes/2001/06/15/jerry-sterner-62"/>

He is buried behind his old building in Brooklyn, in Washington Cemetery with a headstone sardonically inscribed: "Finally, a plot."<ref name="splicetoday/j-marks-the-spot">{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Kevin |title=J Marks the Spot |url=https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/j-marks-the-spot |website=Splice Today |access-date=14 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0827957|name=Jerry Sterner}} *https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9199319/jerry-joseph-sterner

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterner, Jerry}} Category:2001 deaths Category:1938 births Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from the Bronx Category:American male dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century American male writers Category:Long stubs with short prose

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