He founded medical clinics in the jungles of Southeast Asia during the 1950s and later established an international relief organization. He was the author of three best-
selling books, all of them autobiographical, and a television documentary about his cancer surgery was broadcast nationally. After his death from the disease at age 34, he was described as the inspiration for the Peace Corps, and some people in the Roman Catholic Church wanted to make him a saint.
He was physician and humanitarian Tom Dooley, and, despite his unusual life, there has never been a film biography or play about him -- until now.
"The Leper King," a play about Dooley by Trumbull College dean William di Canzio, will be presented as a "concert reading" at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, in the Saint Thomas More Chapel, 268 Park St. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.
In 1954, after the Geneva accord divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel, Dooley was a young physician in the U.S. Navy. As the officer responsible for taking care of the medical needs of refugees from the North to the South, he was responsible for the lives of over 500,000 homeless people. He was decorated by the Vietnamese government in 1956; wrote a book about the experience, which became an international best-seller; and -- at age 29 -- was being groomed
for the post of surgeon general for the U.S. Navy.
Dooley abruptly resigned from the Navy in 1956, saying that he wished to return
to Southeast Asia to practice in the jungles of Laos and that the Laotian government would only permit him to do so as a civilian. (Although disclosures made long after his death suggest Dooley was forced to resign from the Navy because he was gay, notes
di Canzio.)
In Laos, Dooley started clinics, wrote two more best-selling autobiographical books and founded an international relief organization called MEDICO (now part of CARE).
At age 32, he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, and he returned to the United States, where his surgery was filmed as a documentary for CBS and broadcast nationally. Although the disease went into remission for a time, allowing him to make a lecture tour raising half a million dollars for MEDICO, Dooley died of the disease on Jan. 18, 1961, the day after his 34th birthday.
President John F. Kennedy, who knew Dooley, awarded the physician the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously, describing him as the inspiration for the Peace Corps. There was a petition to have him canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church; however, that was eventually dropped.
"The Leper King" will be presented by a company of theater professionals and amateurs, including undergraduates and members of the English and theater studies faculty. Shawn-Marie Garrett, a lecturer in theater studies, will direct the play, which features music by Laurence Rosania '79 B.A.; lighting by James Beldock '97 B.A.; masks by Irisa Terkerian; and choreography by Michael Tracy of the performance troupe Pilobolus.
The reading is sponsored by the President's Office, the theater studies department, and Silliman and Trumbull colleges.