L'zar Quimby
Playwright and Innovator
L'zar Quimby, considered the Father of the Bulgarian Avant Garde Theater, and the man that Oscar Sclimmer of the Bauhaus said "single-handedly saved European Theater," has died at the age of 97, in Sophia.
     L'zar was born Hirum Quimby, in Pestula, a small village 25 miles from Sophia, Bulgaria, on August 30, 1888.  His parents, Sylvia and Alorzo Quimby were poor cheese shop owners.  At an early age, his parents made the decision to expose young Hirum to as much culture as possible, taking him to local plays, art exhibitions, barn raisings and the like.  "My parents had the most influence on my work," Quimby remarked in a Village Voice article in 1967.  He modeled many of his married couples after his parents.
     At the age of fifteen, Quimby had a chance meeting with the famed Bulgarian drama teacher, Hazlitine L'zar, who saw potential in the youth and took him to Sophia to teach him drama.  The teacher's instincts were correct, and Hirum Quimby soon became his prized pupil.
     As time went on, the bond between Quimby and his mentor grew stonger, to the point where Quimby referrred to him as "Papa L'zar".  The two were seldom seen apart and collaberated on several short plays which, sadly, have been lost.  Their partnership came to an end in 1912, when Hazlitine L'zar became one of the many casualties of the sinking of the Titanic.  He was en route to New York to see the opening of his play, "The Homeless Cup Holder", when the disaster struck.  The playright is one of the many legends of the sinking, last seen performing highlights of Shakespeare for a group of passengers who could not get into lifeboats.  The loss devastated Quimby, who changed his surname from Hirum to L'zar in his honor.
     After an absence for mourning, L'zar began to write plays in earnest and soon became a household name in Bulgaria.  The Theater there saw many well-received plays like "The Cabbage at the End of Forever", "Hitchhiking to Damascus", "Where's Josef?", and "No Escape, House Burning" (his only comedy). 
     As his popularity grew, Broadway beckoned.  Quimby answered the call in 1921.  Sadly, the Great White Way is not always kind and the critics and the audiences didn't see the genius that his native people saw.  His last attempt in America was his failed musical "Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg".  After its closing, L'zar headed back to Bulgaria to regroup.
Quimby with a group of unidentified admirers.
Quimby found his native land very kind and welcoming.  It served as a tonic to him.  The next play that he wrote was the legendary "Sodium Provider", the tale of a salt seller and milkmaid, that had a far-reaching impact on Europe and the Americas.
     "Sodium Provider" (1931) was a hit right out of the gate.  It's use of bizarre costumes, crude sets, outlandish dialog and paper mache animals kept audiences guessing, and coming back for more.  Salvadore Dali often remarked that it was his favorite play, and was frequently in the crowd, and even on stage as an extra from time to time.  Several Dadaist publications, like La Truite Putrefiee, hailed it as a masterwork of surrealism.  Critics throughout Europe loved the play.  "The play became so successful," wrote Irvine Chanteusie, Quimby's biographer, "that he never had to write again."  Sodium Provider had insured L'zar's immortality.  But that would soon appear to be a curse.
     In the late 1930's, the play took on new meaning, as the rising National Socialist Party of Germany adapted it.  Hitler's propaganda machine turned the love story into a sermon about the evils of their European neighbors, making the lovers allegories for France and England.  After the war, Stalin used the play to promote the love of
the Russian People for the State.  After Stalin's death, the play disappearred from the theater scene, as cruel hands had tainted it.  Quimby, himself, had become a recluse, riddled with guilt and shame. 
     But time heals all wounds and in 1962, Sodium Provider opened on Off-Broadway.  Quimby, even though in his mid-70's, made the trip to New York to attend rehearsals and insure the integrity of the play.  Producer Melvin Pinter, cousin of Harold Pinter, remembered in his autobiography how "life seemed to return to L'zar; he became the sprightly Bulgarian elf that everyone knew and loved."
     Now, there was a new generation to influence.  Among those caught in the magic of Sodium Provider were Jim Morrison of the Doors, who wanted to call himself the L'zarking, but settled for the Lizard King, director David Lynch, whose Eraserhead has many parallels to the play and Cathy Lee Gifford, who married Frank Gifford because he reminded her of the salt seller.
     Little has been printed about Quimby's personal life.  There were always rumors of numerous wives and lovers.  To date, thirty-seven people have claimed to be the child of L'zar Quimby.  A number surpassing that have stepped forward as mates, including noted 1940's horticulturalist Rita Parsnips, and Czechoslovakia's greatest actress Wetta Klugvetch.
     The last years of L'zar Quimby's life had been spent in quiet solitude.  He spent many hours walking through his beloved Sophia, window shopping and, apparently, holding conversations with his long-dead mentor, Hazelitine L'zar.  He was last seen in public performing highlights of Shakespeare to a group of neighborhood children.
--Variety, September 27, 1985