Born in Buffalo, New York, Gurney, a graduate of St. Paul's School , attended Williams College and the Yale School of Drama, after which he began teaching Humanities at MIT. He began writing plays such as
Scenes from American Life,
Children, and
The Middle Ages while at MIT, but it was his great success with
The Dining Room that allowed him to write full-time. Since
The Dining Room, Gurney has written a number of plays, most of them concerning WASP of the American northeast. Gurney also wrote the musical:
Love in Buffalo. This was the first musical ever produced at Yale.
Gurney's latest play is "The Grand Manner," a play about his real life encounter with famed actress Katharine Cornell in her production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The play will be produced and performed by Lincoln Center for the summer of 2010.
Gurney has also written several novels, including:
- The Snow Ball
- The Gospel According to Joe
- Entertaining Strangers ISBN 0-385-12551-8
Gurney has also appeared in several of his plays including
The Dining Room and most notably
Love Letters.In 2006, Gurney was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.