Augustus Thomas (January 8, 1857 – August 12, 1934) was an American playwright.

Biography

Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

and son of a doctor, Thomas worked a number of jobs including as a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

in the

41st Congress The 41st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1869, ...

, studying law, and gaining some practical railway work experience before he turned to journalism and became editor of the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

''Mirror'' in 1889. Thomas had been writing since his teens when he wrote plays and even organized a small theatrical touring company. Thomas was hired to work as an assistant at Pope's Theatre in St. Louis. During this time, he wrote a one-act play called ''Editha's Burglar'', based on a short story by

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

called ''The Burglar''. After touring in the play, he expanded the show to four acts, renamed it ''The Burglar'', and was able to get

Maurice Barrymore Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe (21 September 1849 – 25 March 1905), known professionally by his stage name Maurice Barrymore, was an Indian-born British stage actor. He is the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family, father of John, Li ...

to play the title role. Subsequently, he was hired to succeed

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

adapting foreign plays for the

Madison Square Theatre ''The Madison Square Theatre'' was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, on the south side of 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway (which intersects Fifth Avenue near that point.) It was built in 1863, operated as a theater from 1865 to 1908, ...

. His first successful play, ''Alabama'', was produced by

Kirke La Shelle Kirke La Shelle (September 23, 1862 – May 16, 1905) was an American journalist, playwright and theatrical producer. He was known for his association with such successful productions as ''The Wizard of the Nile'', ''The Princess Chic'', ''Besid ...

in 1891 and its financial reward allowed Thomas to write full-time. ''Alabama'' is the story of an un-reconstructed Confederate. Notably, Thomas was one of the first playwrights to make use of American material. Other plays along the same lines include ''

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

'' (1900), ''In Mizzoura'' (1893), ''Colorado'' (1900) and ''Rio Grande'' (1916). Perhaps his most successful play was ''The Copperhead'' (1918) which made

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...

a star. d to

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...

theatrical club in 1889 and served as its president from 1907 to 1910. He died in 1934 and was buried in

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the ...

in St. Louis.

Select works

* ''Editha’s Burglar'', 1884 * ''The Burglar'', 1889 * ''A Man of the World'', 1889 * ''Reckless Temple'', 1890 * ''A Woman of the Worl''d, 1890 * ''Alabama'', 1891 * ''Colonel Carter of Cartersville'', 1892 * ''In Mizzoura'', 1893 * ''New Blood'', 1894 * ''

'', 1900 * ''Oliver Goldsmith'', 1900 * ''Colorado'', 1900 * ''Soldiers of Fortune'', 1902 (from 1897

Richard Harding Davis Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and the First ...

novel) * ''The Earl of Pawtucket'', 1903 * ''The Other Girl'', 1903 * ''Mrs. Leffingwell’s Boots'', 1905 * ''The Witching Hour,'' 1907 * ''The Harvest Moon'', 1909 * ''The Member from Ozark'', 1910 * ''As a Man Thinks'', 1911 * ''The Copperhead'', 1918 * ''Nemesis'', 1921 * ''The Print of My Remembrance'' (autobiography), 1922 * ''Still Waters'', 1926

Select filmography

* ''

'' (1913) * ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers wer ...

'' (1914) * '' Shore Acres'' (1914) * '' Paid in Full'' (1914) * '' The Nightingale'' (1914) * ''

'' (1918) * '' The Capitol'' (1919) * ''

The Bonnie Brier Bush ''The Bonnie Brier Bush'' is a 1921 British drama film directed by Donald Crisp. Alfred Hitchcock is credited as a title designer. The film is considered to be lost. Plot As described in a film magazine, dour Scottish shepherd Lachlan Campbell ...

'' (1921) * '' Thirty Days'' (1922) * '' The Family Secret'' (1924) * ''

'' (1931)

References

* *Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th edition. London:Oxford UP, 1983. pps. 827–828. *Moody, Richard. "Augustus Thomas". in Banham, Martin, ed. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'', London:Cambridge UP, 1992.

External links

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Bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Augustus 1857 births 1934 deaths American dramatists and playwrights American newspaper editors Writers from St. Louis Writers from New Rochelle, New York Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters American male screenwriters Film producers from Missouri Film directors from Missouri Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery American male dramatists and playwrights Journalists from New York (state) Film directors from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Missouri Film producers from New York (state) The Lambs presidents 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters