Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 – August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated
golden age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
Philip Barry
Philip Jerome Quinn Barry (June 18, 1896 – December 3, 1949) was an American dramatist best known for his plays ''Holiday (play), Holiday'' (1928) and ''The Philadelphia Story (play), The Philadelphia Story'' (1939), which were both made into ...
), ''
Tarnished Lady
''Tarnished Lady'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Tallulah Bankhead and Clive Brook. The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is based on his short story, ''A Story of a New York Lady''.
Plot
Nancy C ...
'' and '' Love Affair''. Stewart worked with a number of the directors of his time, including
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
(a frequent collaborator),
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...
and
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
. Stewart was a member of the
Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel ...
and, with
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
's friend Bill Smith, the model for Bill Gorton in ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...
''. His 1922 parody on etiquette, ''Perfect Behavior'', published by George H. Doran and Co., was a favourite book of
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeev ...
.
Life and career
His hometown was
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
. He graduated from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, where he became a brother to the
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...
fraternity (Phi chapter), in 1916 and served in the naval reserves in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
After the war he started to write, and found success with ''A Parody Outline of History'', a
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
of ''
The Outline of History
''The Outline of History'', subtitled either "The Whole Story of Man" or "Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind", is a work by H. G. Wells chronicling the history of the world from the origin of the Earth to the First World War. It appeared ...
Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel ...
. Around that time a friend of his got him interested in theater and he became a playwright on
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 ...
in the 1920s. He was friends with
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
,
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...
,
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. ...
, and Ernest Hemingway, who partly based the character of Bill Gorton in ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...
'' on Stewart. In 1924, he wrote ''Mr. and Mrs. Haddock Abroad'' for the publishing house
George H. Doran
George H. Doran Company (1908–1927) was an American Publishing, book publishing company established by George Henry Doran. He organized the company in Toronto and moved it to New York City on February 22, 1908.
The firm prospered, becoming one ...
. It was a send up of the ugly American tourist.
He became interested in adapting some of his plays to film, but on first entering
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, ...
he had to adapt the plays of others as his own were initially shelved. Once there he mostly wrote, but he also had a small part in the film ''
Not So Dumb
''Not So Dumb'' is a 1930 pre-Code comedy motion picture starring Marion Davies, directed by King Vidor, and produced for Cosmopolitan Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
It is based on the stage play ''Dulcy'' by George S. Kaufman and Marc C ...
''. By the 1930s he had become known primarily as a screenwriter and won an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
approached, he became a member of the
Hollywood Anti-Nazi League The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (later known as the American Peace Mobilization) was founded in Los Angeles in 1936 by Otto Katz and others to organize members of the American film industry to oppose fascism and Nazism. It was run by the American p ...
, and admitted to being a member of the
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
at one of its public meetings. During the
Second Red Scare
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origina ...
Stewart was
blacklist
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
ed in 1950 and the following year he and his wife, activist and writer
Ella Winter
Leonore (Ella) Sophie Winter Steffens Stewart (1898–1980) was an Australian-British journalist and activist.
Early life
She was born in 1898 to Freda Lust and Adolph Wertheimer in Nuremberg, Germany. Her parents were Freda Lust and Adolph W ...
(they had married in 1939), emigrated to England. In 1968, he signed the "
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest
Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse of ...
" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. His 1975 memoir is entitled ''By a Stroke of Luck''.
Stewart died in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1980. His widow died three days later. Stewart had two sons from a previous marriage.
Film portrayal
Stewart was portrayed by the actor and playwright David Gow in the 1994 film ''
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle'' is a 1994 American biographical film, biographical drama (film and television), drama film directed by Alan Rudolph from a screenplay written by Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn. The film stars Jennifer Jason Le ...
''.
Partial filmography
As a writer
*''
Brown of Harvard ''Brown of Harvard'' is the title of three silent films all based on the 1906 Broadway play of the same name by Rida Johnson Young. The 1926 version is notable for featuring John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), ...
'' (1926) (adaptation)
*''
Humorous Flights
Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in t ...
Laughter
Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...
'' (1930)
*'' Rebound'' (1931) (based on his play of the same name)
*''
Tarnished Lady
''Tarnished Lady'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Tallulah Bankhead and Clive Brook. The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is based on his short story, ''A Story of a New York Lady''.
Plot
Nancy C ...
'' (1931)
*''
Finn and Hattie
''Finn and Hattie'' is a 1931 American comedic pre-Code film directed by Norman Taurog, starring Leon Errol, Mitzi Green and ZaSu Pitts
Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dram ...
Going Hollywood
''Going Hollywood'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Marion Davies and Bing Crosby. It was written by Donald Ogden Stewart and based on a story by Frances Marion. ''Going Hollywood'' was released by ...
'' (1933)
*''
Another Language
''Another Language'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Edward H. Griffith and starring Robert Montgomery and Helen Hayes.
Plot
A newlywed discovers that she and her husband's snobby family speak different languages: ...
'' (1933)
*''
The White Sister
''The White Sister'' is a play in four acts by Francis Marion Crawford and Walter C. Hackett. The play was originally written by Crawford in 1907 and he later adapted the play into a serialized novel which was first published over a six month p ...
'' (1933)
* ''
Manhattan Melodrama
''Manhattan Melodrama'' is a 1934 American pre-Code crime film, produced by MGM, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and starring Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy. The movie also provided one of Mickey Rooney's earliest film roles. (Rooney pla ...
'' (1934)
* ''
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. The play gave actress Ka ...
'' (1934)
* ''
No More Ladies
''No More Ladies'' is a 1935 American romantic comedy film directed by Edward H. Griffith. The film stars Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery, and co-stars Charlie Ruggles, Franchot Tone, and Edna May Oliver. The screenplay credited to Donald ...
'' (1935)
*''
The Prisoner of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order ...
'' (1937) (additional dialogue)
*''
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
'' (1938) (screenplay)
*''
Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
'' (1938) (screenplay)
*''
The Night of Nights
''The Night of Nights'' is a 1939 black-and-white drama film written by Donald Ogden Stewart and directed by Lewis Milestone for Paramount Pictures that starred Pat O'Brien, Olympe Bradna, and Roland Young.
The film received positive contempor ...
A Woman's Face
''A Woman's Face'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas and Conrad Veidt. It tells the story of Anna Holm, a facially disfigured blackmailer, who because of ...
'' (1941)
*'' That Uncertain Feeling'' (1941) (screenplay), aka ''Ernst Lubitsch's That Uncertain Feeling'' (USA: complete title)
*'' Keeper of the Flame'' (1942) (screenplay)
*''
Tales of Manhattan
''Tales of Manhattan'' is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart, worked on the six stories in this film. Ba ...
Cass Timberlane
''Cass Timberlane'' is a 1947 romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner and Zachary Scott and directed by George Sidney. It was based on the 1945 novel ''Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives'' by Sinclair Lewis, which was ...
'' (1947) (adaptation)
*''
Life with Father
''Life with Father'' is a 1939 play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, adapted from a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day. The Broadway production ran for 3,224 performances over 401 weeks to become the l ...
'' (1947)
*''
Edward, My Son
''Edward, My Son'' is a 1949 British drama film directed by George Cukor for MGM-British Studios that stars Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr. The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is based on the 1947 play of the same title by Noel Langley and Ro ...
'' (1949)
*''
The Prisoner of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order ...
An Affair to Remember
''An Affair to Remember'' is a 1957 American romance film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Filmed in CinemaScope, it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is considered among the most romantic films of all ...
'' (1957) (originally uncredited)
*''
Love and Death
''Love and Death'' is a 1975 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. It is a satire on Russian literature starring Allen and Diane Keaton as Boris and Sonja, Russians living during the Napoleonic Era who engage in mock-serious p ...
'' (1975) (uncredited)Kapsis, Robert E., ed. ''Woody Allen: Interviews (revised and updated)''. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, xxxiii
As an actor
*''
Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
'' (1928) – Nick Potter
*''Humorous Flights'' (1929) – Donald Ogden Stewart
*''Night Club'' (1929/I)
*''
Not So Dumb
''Not So Dumb'' is a 1930 pre-Code comedy motion picture starring Marion Davies, directed by King Vidor, and produced for Cosmopolitan Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
It is based on the stage play ''Dulcy'' by George S. Kaufman and Marc C ...
'' (1930) – Skylar Van Dyke/Horace Patterson
Journalism
* "The Love Life of Jimmy Durante", ''
Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...