Biography of Del Shores

Daddy's Dyin' (Who's Got The Will?), (1987) originally ran two years at Theatre/Theater in Hollywood, winning many Los Angeles theatre awards, including LA Weekly's Best Production and Best Writing. The play has subsequently been produced in over 2000 theatres worldwide. A movie version of Daddy's Dyin'" was released in 1990 by MGM and Propaganda Films and starred Beau Bridges, Tess Harper, Judge Reinhold, Keith Carradine and Beverly D'Angelo. Shores wrote the screenplay and executive produced the film. "Sordid Lives", his fourth play, opened in Los Angeles May 11, 1996 and ran 13 sold-out months. The critics raved-ultimately 13 of them awarding the production "Critic's Choice." F. Kathleen Folley of the Los Angeles Times wrote: Sordid Lives" has more laughs than a hunting dog has ticks. Del Shores is a master of the Texas comedy. The play went on to win 14 Drama-Logue Theatre Awards, including three for Shores for writing, directing and producing. He was also nominated for Robby, L.A. Weekly and GLAAD Awards for writing, directing and producing. In 1999, Shores' wrote and directed the film version of "Sordid Lives" starring Beau Bridges, Delta Burke, Olivia Newton-John, Bonnie Bedeilia, Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant, along with most of the cast from the play. The movie has become a cult phenomenon. Ivor Davis of The New York Times Syndicate called it: "The most delicious combination of emotion and laugh out loud hilarity to come along in the new Millennium - The Birdcage meets the Bible Belt-and the result is the most hilarious comedy of the year." The movie won many festival awards, including Best Film at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival, Atlanta Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, Austin Gay & Lesbian Internantional Film Festival, South Beach Film Festival, Memphis International Film Festival and the San Diego International Film Festival and racked up a total of thirteen "Audience Awards." In 2002 Twentieth Century Fox released the DVD/Video, which has now sold over 100,000 units. "Southern Bapitist Sissies" is Shores most personal play-a tragicomedy. It enjoyed a ten-month sold-out run in Los Angeles in 2000 and 2001, then enjoyed a sold-out run at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary Theatre in Dallas. Revived in L.A. in April 2002, "Sissies" enjoyed yet another six month sold-out run, again at the Zephyr Theatre. The play opened at the Bailiwick Theatre in Chicago to rave reviews July 2002 and was the theatres' biggest hit during their "Pride" summer series, garnering two After Dark awards for Best Direction and Best Ensemble. The original LA production of "Sissies" received 20 Los Angeles Theatre Awards, Shores alone receiving the LA Weekly, Robby and Maddy for Best Direction and the Backstage West Garland, Robby and Maddy for Best Writing. The play was also awarded the prestigious GLAAD Award for Outstanding Production of the Year. Most recently, Shores' enjoyed critical and commercial success with his darkest play, "The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife." The play ran for six sold-out months in 2003 at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles. For "Trials" Shores won the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's Ted Schmitt Award for Best World Premiere. The Circle also awarded "Trials" Best Production and Beth Grant Best Lead Performance. "Trials" also won five Back Stage West Garland Awards (Best Play, Best Direction, Best Writing, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress), two NAACP Awards (Best Play, Best Playwright, 7 nominations, including Best Directing for Shores ), Ovation Awards (Best Actress, 4 nominations, including writing and direction for Shores') seven Maddy Awards (including Best Play, Writing, Direction) and was nominated for four L.A. Weekly Awards, Shores winning for Best Playwright, the cast for Best Ensemble and David Steen for Best Supporting Actor. The play has been optioned for an Off-Broadway run by Tony Award winning "Hairspray" producer Dede Harris. Other plays include "Cheatin'" and "Daughters of the Lone Star State." All Shores' plays are published by Samuel French, Inc. In television, Shores has written and produced for "Maximum Bob", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Live Shot", "Touched By An Angel", "Ned and Stacey" Family Ties" "Dharma and Greg" and currently writes and is the Co-executive Producer of the acclaimed Showtime series, "Queer As Folk." He has also written and produced pilots for every network and wrote and directed the recent Showtime movie "The Wilde Girls", staring Olivia Newton-John and Swoosie Kurtz.