Ruth Wolff is a playwright. Her Notable Women—and a Few Equally Notable Men (Broadway Play Publishing), is a collection of nine of her biographical plays preceded by the essay, Dramatizing Lives—The Art of Writing the Biographical Play, in which Wolff shares her considerable knowledge and experience in the subject. The Abdication premiered at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has been presented throughout the United States and around the world. Wolff wrote the screenplay for the film of the play that starred Liv Ullmann and Peter Finch. Her play Sarah in America, which premiered at the Kennedy Center, starred Lilli Palmer and was directed by Sir Robert Helpmann. Wolff wrote the screenplay for The Incredible Sarah starring Glenda Jackson. Empress of China premiered at the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. The Second Mrs. Wilson premiered at the Barter Theatre. Other plays in the volume are The Perfect Marriage (Playwrights Theatre of East Hampton); Hallie (Playwrights Theatre of New York); Eleanor of Aquitaine (O'Neill Theatre Foundation); George and Frederic (University of Utah); and Joshua Slocum Sailing Around the World (Rhode Island Shakespeare Theatre). Additional plays include Aviators, The Fall of Athens, Buffaloes, The Shakespeare Road, The Ardent Philanthropist, Hotel Victory, The Sky Pool, and Faustiana.
A native of Massachusetts who now lives in New York, Wolff is a member of The Dramatists Guild; the Writers Guild of America, West; and the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a recipient of a Rockefeller Fellowship and a Kennedy Center Bicentennial Commission.
