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Regis High School University of Pittsburgh

ATTILIO FAVORINI Obituary

FAVORINI--Attilio "Buck". Attilio "Buck" Favorini--scholar, award-winning playwright, founder of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Theatre Arts--died peacefully January 22 at home after fighting valiantly against Parkinson's/Lewy Body Dementia. A man of great words, great deeds, and a great heart. He helped to forge a new cultural landscape in the Steel City during Pittsburgh's 2nd renaissance. Buck founded the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival (1980-1993), hailed as one of the leading Shakespeare festivals in the country, and was named a Pittsburgher of the Year in 1989. Born and bred in New York, Buck spent 50 years in Pittsburgh and relocated to Sacramento in 2019. A graduate of Regis High School in NYC, he received a BA from Fordham and a Ph.D. in History of the Theatre from Yale. Buck joined the faculty at Pitt in 1969, serving 27 years as Head and Chair of Theatre Arts and many years as Director of Graduate Studies. He oversaw the renovation and construction of three theaters at Pitt and opened their stages to the city's vibrant arts community. Key academic interests, reflected in the four books he authored, included documentary theatre, the intersection of theatre and memory, and the works of Shakespeare. His six plays have been performed nationally, including Steel/City at the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife. His play In the Garden of Live Flowers, written with Lynne Conner, won the Kennedy Center's David Mark Cohen award (2002). Buck loved Italy, travel, cooking, gardening, his book club, and poker game, and was always planning the next meal for friends and family. His toasts were memorable. He treasured being a dad, was very proud of his children, and cherished his friends. He leaves behind his loving wife, Lisa, children: Francis Favorini, Marie (Ben Frandzel) Favorini, Anton (Sarah Larson) Favorini-Csorba, and Francesca (Luca Nygren) Favorini-Csorba, grandson Jeno Favorini-Larson and sister Cecilia (Robert) Balog and many cousins, a nephew, and a niece. Buck wished to be remembered for putting on a good show and a great meal. Please buy some theatre tickets for your friends and enjoy the show! A memorial is being planned for the spring in Pittsburgh.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by New York Times on Jan. 30, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for ATTILIO FAVORINI

1 Entry

Jennifer

February 4, 2022

Buck was a professor of mine at Pitt. I remember taking his comedy seminar. He always had his notecards ready for lecture, whose wear appeared as if he had been using them for years! Fast forward 15 years later, I found myself teaching a comedy lit class and going to back to my notes from his class. I created my own notes for my new class: a mix of handwritten and electronic with Buck's memory at the core. I wish his family, friends, former colleagues, and students much peace and many positive thoughts during this time!

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