Anne Marsh Caldwell (August 30, 1867 – October 22, 1936), also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was an American
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
and
lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment.
Royalties
A lyricist's income ...
.
She wrote both
pop songs
Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...
and
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
shows, sometimes working with composer
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...
.
Biography
Anne Marsh Caldwell was born in
Boston, Massachusetts.
She began her career at the Juvenile Opera Co. as one of only four female songwriters active in the early 1900s. She was a charter member of the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
, where her output between 1907 through 1928 focused mainly on Broadway scores.
In 1929, lured by producer
William LeBaron
William LeBaron (February 16, 1883February 9, 1958) was an American film producer. LeBaron's film credits included '' Cimarron'', which won the Academy Award for Outstanding Production at the 4th Academy Awards ceremony for 1930/1931. LeBaron ...
, she went to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
where she became a
script doctor
A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elemen ...
and write lyrics for
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
. It was announced that she was engaged by
Max Hart
We Are Scientists is a New York City-based rock band that formed in Berkeley, California, in 1999. It consists primarily of guitarist and vocalist Keith Murray and bass guitarist Chris Cain, with drummer Keith Carne joining the band in the studi ...
to write songs with Harry Tierny. By October, she was signed to write the lyrics for the film ''
Dixiana''.
From 1900 to the mid-1920s, she mostly collaborated with composer
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...
.
Her first collaboration with Kern was the musical, ''She’s a Good Fellow'', followed by ''
The Night Boat
''The Night Boat'' (1920) is a musical in three acts, based on a farce by Alexandre Bisson, with a book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell and music by Jerome Kern. The story lampoons the notorious New York City-to- Albany night boat, on which clande ...
'' (1920), and ''
Sally
Sally may refer to:
People
*Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name
Military
*Sortie (siege warfare), Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port
*Sally, ...
'' (1920). ''The Night Boat'' was one of Caldwell and Kern's more successful shows but is generally not considered revivable today. The plots and comedy of their shows don’t satisfy contemporary audiences.
Her final credited work was a radio adaptation of the 1933 film (on which she had also worked) ''
Flying Down to Rio
''Flying Down to Rio'' is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing and the leading roles. Among the ...
''.
Until the careers of Caldwell, along with
Rida Johnson Young
Rida Johnson Young (February 28, 1875 – May 8, 1926) was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist.IBDBRida Johnson Young Retrieved November 21, 2007 In her career, Young wrote over thirty plays and musicals, and over 500 songs. She ...
and
Dorothy Donnelly
Dorothy Agnes Donnelly (January 28, 1876 - January 3, 1928) was an actress, playwright, librettist, producer, and director. After a decade-long acting career that included several notable roles on Broadway, she turned to writing plays, musicals ...
, writing American musical comedy was a male profession. They helped established the idea that a female writer could create works for the stage that were equally as satirical, witty, timely, and simply as comical as the work of any man.
Caldwell married William L. Vinal (1855–1897) on August 2, 1885, in
Manhattan, New York
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
They had a daughter, Marianna Sarah "Molly" Vinal (1886–1950). William Vinal was killed on March 4, 1897, in a gas explosion in Boston on the
Tremont Street Subway
The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction (after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and the Bud ...
at the
Boylston station
Boylston station (also signed as Boylston Street) is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, located on the southeast corner of Boston Common at the intersection of Boylston Street and Tremont Street. A ...
.
She remarried lyricist James J. O'Dea (1870–1914)
on August 15, 1904, in Brooklyn.
Death
She died in
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
, following a short illness. Her son, Anthony Patrick O'Day (1900–1961), and daughter, Molly O'Day (née Marianna Sarah Vinal; 1886–1950), were with her at the time of her death.
Legacy
Upon her passing, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called her "one of the most prolific librettists known to show business. A quiet, unassuming woman she developed a technique that rarely failed and was both book writer and lyricist."
She was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
in 1970.
Shows
Caldwell wrote lyrics and/or dialogue for dozens of Broadway shows:
* ''Sergeant Brue'' (1905)
* ''The Top o’ th’ World'' (1907)
* ''The Nest Egg'' (1910)
* ''Uncle Sam'' (1911)
* ''The Lady of the Slipper'' (1912)
* ''When Claudia Smiles'' (1914)
* ''Chin Chin'' (1914)
* ''Pom-pom'' (1916)
* ''Go to It'' (1916)
* ''Jack O’Lantern'' (1917)
* ''The Canary'' (1918)
* ''She’s a Good Fellow'' (1919)
* ''The Lady in Red'' (1919)
* ''
The Night Boat
''The Night Boat'' (1920) is a musical in three acts, based on a farce by Alexandre Bisson, with a book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell and music by Jerome Kern. The story lampoons the notorious New York City-to- Albany night boat, on which clande ...
'' (1920)
* ''The Sweetheart Shop'' (1920)
* ''Tip Top'' (1920)
* ''Hitchy-Koo'' (1920)
* ''Good Morning Dearie'' (1921)
* ''
The Bunch and Judy'' (1922)
* ''
Sally
Sally may refer to:
People
*Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name
Military
*Sortie (siege warfare), Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port
*Sally, ...
'' (1923)
* ''
Stepping Stones
Stepping stones or stepstones are sets of stones arranged to form an improvised causeway that allows a pedestrian to cross a natural watercourse such as a river; or a water feature in a garden where water is allowed to flow between stone steps. U ...
'' (1923)
* ''Peg-O’-My-Dreams'' (1924)
* ''The Magnolia Lady'' (1924)
* ''
The City Chap'' (1925)
* ''
Criss Cross'' (1926)
* ''Yours Truly'' (1927)
* ''Lucky'' (1927)
* ''Take the Air'' (1927)
* ''Yours Truly'' (1928)
* ''Three Cheers'' (1928)
Notes
References
Specific
External links
*
The lady of the slipper: Musical with book by Caldwell and music by Victor HerbertVocal score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
Anne Caldwellat the
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Anne
1868 births
1936 deaths
American librettists
American musical theatre lyricists
Writers from Boston
Songwriters from Massachusetts
Women librettists
American women dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American women writers