Bradford O’Neil; Screenwriter Directed ‘House of Correction’

Bradford O’Neil, screenwriter and director praised as a Wunderkind for his direction of the play “House of Correction,” has died.

O’Neil, 28, committed suicide. Helen Althaus, a friend and colleague in Ashland, Ore., said Friday that he had been despondent over his health “and didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.”

O’Neil, who was battling AIDS, shot himself in the chest last Sunday at his North Hollywood home, a police spokesman said.

The Oregon native was nominated for a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for his work on “House of Correction” at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1988. He received the Drama-Logue critics award for that work.

In reviewing the play, Times theater critic emeritus Sylvie Drake said: “It’s clear that most of the credit belongs to 23-year-old Wunderkind director O’Neil, who has made silken entertainment out of tricky reasoning that you may take or leave.”

O’Neil began his career as a 10-year-old actor in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland as Mamillius in “The Winter’s Tale” and as a child in “Romeo and Juliet.”

He later worked for the New Playwrights’ Theatre, where he wrote and directed many plays. He directed Norman Lock’s “House of Correction” in Ashland before moving it to Los Angeles.

O’Neil is survived by his parents, Bill and Rita O’Neil of Eugene, Ore.; a brother, a sister, and two grandparents. Tracy Jackson, his longtime companion, died in February, adding to O’Neil’s despondency, Althaus said.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, P.O. Box 158, Ashland, Ore. 97520; to APLA, 1313 N. Vine St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90028, or to PEN Center USA West, 672 S. Lafayette Park Place Suite 41, Los Angeles, Calif. 90057.