Background
Andre Gilbert Ernotte was born on June 3, 1943, in Liege, Belgium. He was the son of Jules Gilbert Ernotte, a munitions maker, and Fanny (Paquot) Ernotte, a beauty consultant.
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1977
Andre Gilbert Ernotte was born on June 3, 1943, in Liege, Belgium. He was the son of Jules Gilbert Ernotte, a munitions maker, and Fanny (Paquot) Ernotte, a beauty consultant.
Ernotte graduated from the Athenee Royale de E‘ege in 1961, as well as from the Belgian National Institute of Performing Arts five years later.
Ernotte directed a number of works in theater, film and television in the United States and Europe. He also penned several plays—many of them in collaboration with longtime writing partner Elliot Tiber—as well as a novel, High Street, which the pair also adapted for film. Ernotte’s credits as a playwright include The Misfortunes of Sophie and The Music Keeper.
The Misfortunes of Sophie was staged in Ernotte’s native Belgium in 1969. The “Sophie” of the title is a fictionalization of French children’s author Comtesse de Segur. Ernotte’s Sophie, however, bears little resemblance to his real-life model, for in his comedy of the absurd she is a sadist who is given the opportunity to torture historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Cyrano de Bergerac and Vincent van Gogh. Tabori reported that “the Belgians ... have banned the play in advance to anybody under eighteen”.
Ernotte and Tiber’s The Music Keeper was performed in 1982 at the South Street Theater in New York City.
In the 1990's he became a mainstay of the Vineyard Theater and Workshop Center in lower Manhattan. During the 1990s, Ernotte has also concentrated on his role as a director, particularly directing the works of musical playwright Polly Pen. Christina Alberta’s Father is Pen’s adaptation of a novel by pioneering science-fiction author H. G. Wells. Bed and Sofa is a spoof of a 1926 film about living in Moscow during the early days of the Soviet Revolution. John Simon, discussing Bed and Sofa in New York, singled out Ernotte’s direction for particular praise, citing its “tireless resourcefulness and infectious gusto.”
Ernotte also directed Bill C. Davis’s Expatriate in Waterbury, Connecticut and helped stage Cuban play-wright Eduardo Manet’s Lady Strass.
Ernotte's Christina Alberta's Father earned him the Obie Award in 1994. He also won the Obie Award for Vienna Notes and Jungle Coup. Ernotte was named the Best Director by the Belgian Drama Critics Circle. He won Grand Prix for Best Director and Scenarist from the Liege Film Critics, as well as Grand Prix for Best Director and Scenarist from the New Orleans Film Festival. Ernotte was honored by the Humanitarian Motion Picture Award for Best Director in 1981.
Ernotte was a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild and Societe des Auteurs de France. He was also the Harkness Fellow, the Salzburg American Theatre Fellow, as well as the Berliner Ensemble Fellow.
