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Sidney Howard Memorial Award
The ''Sidney Howard Memorial Award'' was a notable but short-lived theater prize established in 1939 by the Playwrights' Company. It was designed to support new playwrights who had no notable successes but had shown promise. Among the awardees are Robert Ardrey and Tennessee Williams. Sidney Howard Sidney Howard (1891-1939) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 for his play They Knew What They Wanted, which was later adapted for the screen by the first Memorial Award winner, Robert Ardrey. In 1932 he was nominated for an Academy Award for his adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel '' Arrowsmith'', and he was nominated again in 1936 for '' Dodsworth'', which he had adapted for the stage in 1934.Berg, A. Scott. ''Goldwyn: A Biography.'' New York: Riverhead, 1998. In 1940 he was awarded a posthumous Academy Award for the screenplay for '' Gone with the Wind''. During his career he wrote or adapted over seventy plays and eleve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playwrights' Company
The Playwrights Company (1938–1960) was an American theatrical production company. History Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Sidney Howard, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood and John F. Wharton established The Playwrights Company in 1938 (incorporated as The Playwrights Producing Company on July 1, 1938) to produce all works of the founding playwrights. Anderson had been frustrated with Broadway producers as well as drama critics, stating the goal of the company would be "to make a center for ourselves within the theatre and possibly rally the theatre as a whole to new levels by setting a high standard of writing and production". The founders had been unhappy with the policies of the Theatre Guild which had previously been their main producer. Initial backers included Governor Averell Harriman, publisher Dorothy Schiff, actor Raymond Massey and CBS President William Paley. Business Manager Victor Samrock, who served, in effect, as the company’s co-producer, was an initial sharehol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elmer Rice
Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Scene'' (1929). Biography Early years Rice was born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein at 127 East 90th Street in New York City. His grandfather was a political activist in the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. After the failure of that political upheaval, he emigrated to the United States where he became a businessman. He spent most of his retirement years living with the Rice family and developed a close relationship with his grandson Elmer, who became a politically motivated writer and shared his grandfather's liberal and pacifist politics. A staunch atheist, his grandfather may also have influenced Elmer in his feelings about religion as he refused to attend Hebrew school or to have a bar mitzvah. In contrast, Rice's relationship with his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S. Army during World War II, Laurents turned to writing for Broadway, producing a body of work that includes ''West Side Story'' (1957), ''Gypsy'' (1959), and ''Hallelujah, Baby!'' (1967), and directing some of his own shows and other Broadway productions. His film scripts include ''Rope'' (1948) for Alfred Hitchcock, followed by '' Anastasia'' (1956), '' Bonjour Tristesse'' (1958), ''The Way We Were'' (1973), and '' The Turning Point'' (1977). Early life Born Arthur Levine, Laurents was the son of middle-class Jewish parents, his father a lawyer and his mother a schoolteacher, who gave up her career when she married. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Of The Brave (play)
''Home of the Brave'' is a 1946 play by Arthur Laurents. A film adaptation was made in 1949, directed by Mark Robson. The Broadway production was directed by Michael Gordon. The play opened at the Belasco Theater on December 27, 1945, and closed on February 23, 1946. Cast and Characters The play opened at the Belasco Theater on December 27, 1945, and closed on February 23, 1946. The show was directed by Michael Gordon, and set and lighting design Ralph Alswang. The cast included Eduard Franz (Capt. Harold Bitterger), Kendall Clark (Major Dennis Robinson, Jr), Russell Hardie (T.J.), Joseph Pevney (Coney), Henry Barnard (Finch), and Alan Baxter (Mingo). Its first New York revival was Off-Broadway at Playhouse 91 in December 1999, directed by Richard Sabellico, set design Richard Ellis, costume design Gail Boldoni, lighting design Richard Latta, sound design Bender Dubiel, with Laurents as creative consultant. The show starred Jeff Talbott (Capt. Harold Bitterger), Mark Dekli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, dropping out to take up a career on the theatre stage. He subsequently became a professional saxophone player and leader of his own band that went by the name Garson Kanin and His Red Hot Peppers. During this period, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts pursuing an acting career. He was of Jewish descent. Stage career Garson Kanin began his show-business career as a jazz musician, burlesque comedian, and actor. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made his Broadway debut in ''Little Ol' Boy'' (1933). In 1935, Kanin was cast in a George Abbott play and soon became Abbott's assistant. Kanin made his Broadway debut as a director in 1936, at the age o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Born Yesterday (play)
''Born Yesterday'' is a play written by Garson Kanin which premiered on Broadway in 1946, starring Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. The play was adapted into a successful 1950 film of the same name. Plot An uncouth, corrupt rich junk dealer, Harry Brock, brings his showgirl mistress Billie Dawn with him to Washington, D.C. When Billie's ignorance becomes a liability to Brock's business dealings, he hires a journalist, Paul Verrall, to educate his girlfriend. In the process of learning, Billie Dawn realizes how corrupt Harry is and begins interfering with his plans to bribe a Congressman into passing legislation that would allow Brock's business to make more money. Productions 1946 Original Broadway ''Born Yesterday'' opened on February 4, 1946 on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre and ran there until November 6, 1948; the play transferred to Henry Miller's Theatre on November 9, 1948 and closed on December 31, 1949, after a total of 1,642 performances. it was the seventh long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Glass Menagerie
''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic personality disorder, histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of ''The Gentleman Caller''. The play premiered in Chicago in 1944. After a shaky start, it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose enthusiasm helped build audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle, New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. ''The Glass Menagerie'' was Williams' first successful play; he went on to become one of America's most highly regarded playwrights. Characters ; Amanda Wingfield: :A faded Southern belle who grew up in Blue Mountain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunder Rock (play)
''Thunder Rock'' is a 1939 play by Robert Ardrey. The initial Broadway production, put on by the Group Theater and directed by Elia Kazan, closed after a short run, but the play was far more successful in wartime London. ''Thunder Rock'' became a symbol of British resistance and was the most notable play of World War II. It was first produced in a little-known theater in South Kensington but was transferred, with secret funding from Her Majesty's Treasury,Aldgate, Anthony et al. ''Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War'' 2nd ed. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007. pp. 170-2. Print. to the Globe Theatre in London's West End. ''Thunder Rock'' has seen many adaptations, including a BBC radio version in 1940 and a 1942 film starring Michael Redgrave and Barbara Mullen with James Mason in a minor role. In 1947 CBS broadcast a radio production; it was awarded a Peabody Award. Stage productions have been mounted all over the world, including an unauthorized production ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John F
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died c. AD 30), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (lived c. AD 30), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert E
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, Danish, and Icelandic. It can be use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxwell Anderson
James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Background Anderson was born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela ('Premely') Stephenson, both of Scotch-Irish descent. His family initially lived on his maternal grandmother Sheperd's farm in Atlantic, then moved to Andover, Ohio, where his father became a railroad fireman while studying to become a minister. They moved often, to follow their father's ministerial posts, and Maxwell was frequently sick, missing a great deal of school. He used his time sick in bed to read voraciously, and both his parents and Aunt Emma were storytellers, which contributed to Anderson's love of literature. During a visit to his grandmother's house in Atlantic, at age 11, he met the first love of his life, Hallie Loomis, a slightly older girl from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Ardrey
Robert Ardrey (October 16, 1908 – January 14, 1980) was an American playwright, screenwriter and science writer perhaps best known for ''The Territorial Imperative'' (1966). After a Broadway and Hollywood career, he returned to his academic training in anthropology and the behavioral sciences in the 1950s. As a playwright and screenwriter Ardrey received many accolades. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1937, won the inaugural Sidney Howard Memorial Award in 1940, and in 1966 received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay for his script for ''Khartoum''. His most famous play, ''Thunder Rock'', is widely considered an international classic. Ardrey's scientific work played a major role in overturning long-standing assumptions in the social sciences. In particular, both ''African Genesis'' (1961) and ''The Territorial Imperative'' (1966), two of his most widely read works, were instrumental in changing scientific doctrine and increasing public awareness of e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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