Donald Robert Perry Marquis ( ; July 29, 1878 – December 29, 1937) was an American

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, and author. He was variously a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, poet, newspaper

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

, and

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 ...

. He is remembered best for creating the characters

Archy and Mehitabel Archy and Mehitabel (styled as archy and mehitabel) are fictional characters created in 1916 by Don Marquis, a columnist for ''The Evening Sun'' newspaper in New York City. Archy, a cockroach, and Mehitabel, an alley cat, appeared in hundreds of ...

, supposed authors of humorous verse. During his lifetime he was equally famous for creating another fictitious character, "the Old Soak," who was the subject of two books, a hit Broadway play (1922–23), a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

(1926) and a talkie (1937).

Life

Marquis was born and grew up in Walnut, Illinois. His brother David died in 1892 at the age of 20; his father James died in 1897. After graduating from Walnut High School in 1894, he attended Knox Academy, a now-defunct preparatory program run by Knox College, in 1896, but left after three months. From 1902 to 1907 he served on the editorial board of the ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' where he wrote many editorials during the heated gubernatorial election between his publisher Hoke Smith and future

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winner,

Clark Howell Clark Howell (September 21, 1863 – November 14, 1936) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American newspaper man and politician from the state of Georgia. For fifty-three years, he was editorial executive and owner of ''The Atlanta Constitution ...

(Smith was the victor). In 1909, Marquis married Reina Melcher, with whom he had a son, Robert (1915–1921) and a daughter, Barbara (1918–1931). Reina died on December 2, 1923. Three years later Marquis married the actress Marjorie Potts Vonnegut, whose first husband, actor Walter Vonnegut, was a cousin of American author, playwright and satirist

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

She died in her sleep on October 25, 1936. Marquis died of a stroke in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, after suffering three other strokes that partly disabled him. On August 23, 1943, the United States Navy christened a

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

, the , in his memory.

Career

Marquis began work for the New York newspaper '' The Evening Sun'' in 1912 and edited for the next eleven years a daily column, "The Sun Dial". During 1922 he left ''The Evening Sun'' (shortened to The Sun in 1920) for the ''New York Tribune'' (renamed the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' in 1924), where his daily column, "The Tower" (later "The Lantern") was a great success. He regularly contributed columns and short stories to the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'' and ''American'' magazines and also appeared in '' Harper's'', ''

Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

'', ''Golden Book'', and ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

''. Marquis's best-known creation was Archy, a fictional

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...

(developed as a character during 1916) who had been a free-verse poet in a previous life, and who supposedly left poems on Marquis's typewriter by jumping on the keys. Archy usually typed only lower-case letters, without punctuation, because he could not operate the shift key. His verses were a type of social satire, and were used by Marquis in his newspaper columns titled "archy and mehitabel"; mehitabel was an alley cat, occasional companion of archy and the subject of some of archy's verses. The archy and mehitabel pieces were illustrated by cartoonist

George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience ...

, better known to posterity as the author of the newspaper comic

Krazy Kat ''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an US, American newspaper comic strip, by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Journal-American, New Yor ...

. Other characters developed by Marquis included

Pete the Pup Pete the Pup (original, 1924 – June 1930; second Pete, September 9, 1929 – January 28, 1946) was a character in Hal Roach's '' Our Gang'' comedies (later known as ''The Little Rascals'') during the 1930s, otherwise known as "Pete, the dog w ...

, Clarence the ghost, and an egomaniacal toad named Warty Bliggins. Marquis was the author of about 35 books. He co-wrote (or contributed posthumously) to the films ''The Sports Pages'', ''Shinbone Alley'', ''The Good Old Soak'' and '' Skippy''. The 1926 film ''

The Cruise of the Jasper B ''Cruise of the Jasper B'' is a 1926 American silent action/adventure comedy film produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by James W. Horne. The film is loosely based on the 1916 novel of the same name by American poet Don Marquis, although ...

'' was supposedly based on his 1916 novel of the same name, although the plots have little in common.

Publications

*1912: ''Danny's Own Story'' (novel) *1915: ''Dreams & Dust'' (poems) *1916: ''The Cruise of the Jasper B.'' (novel) *1916: ''Hermione and Her Little Group of Serious Thinkers'' (sketches) *1919: ''Prefaces'' (essays) *1921: ''The Old Soak and Hail and Farewell'' (sketches) Dramatized 1921, 1926, 1937. *1921: ''Carter and Other People'' (short stories) *1921: ''Noah an' Jonah an' Cap'n John Smith'' (poems, sketches) *1922: ''Poems and Portraits'' (poems) *1922: ''Sonnets to a Red-Haired Lady and Famous Love Affairs'' (poems) *1922: ''The Revolt of the Oyster'' (short stories) *1924: ''The Dark Hours'' (play) This story of the trial, passion and crucifixion of Jesus had its professional premiere on 14 March 1932 at the Maryland Theatre in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Bretaigne Windust Ernest Bretaigne Windust (January 20, 1906 – March 19, 1960) was a United States-based French-born theater, film, and television director. Early life He was born in Paris, the son of English violin virtuoso Ernest Joseph Windust and singer ...

directed the

University Players The University Players was primarily a summer stock theater company located in West Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from 1928 to 1932. It was formed in 1928 by eighteen college undergraduates. Notable among them were Eleanor Phelps of Vassa ...

with a cast of more than 50, which included

Joshua Logan Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American director, writer, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing other musicals. Early years Logan ...

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...

, Charles Crane Leatherbee as ''Pilate'',

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...

as ''Peter'', and

Kent Smith Frank Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985) was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theatre and television. Early years Smith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith. He was born in New York City and was educated ...

as ''Jesus''. The play subsequently opened on Broadway on 14 November 1932 and ran 8 performances. See, Houghton, Norris. ''But Not Forgotten: The Adventure of the University Players'', New York, William Sloane Associates: 1951, pp. 285–6. *1924: ''Pandora Lifts the Lid'' (novel) *1924: ''Words and Thoughts'' (play) *1924: ''The Awakening'' (poems) *1927: ''Out of the Sea'' (play) *1927: ''The Almost Perfect State'' (essays) *1927: ''

archy and mehitabel Archy and Mehitabel (styled as archy and mehitabel) are fictional characters created in 1916 by Don Marquis, a columnist for ''The Evening Sun'' newspaper in New York City. Archy, a cockroach, and Mehitabel, an alley cat, appeared in hundreds of ...

'' (poems, sketches) *1928: ''Love Sonnets of a Cave Man'' (poems) *1928: ''When the Turtles Sing'' (short stories) *1929: ''A Variety of People'' (short stories) *1930: ''Off the Arm'' (novel) *1933: ''archys life of mehitabel'' (poems, sketches) *1934: ''Master of the Revels'' (play) *1934: ''Chapters for the Orthodox'' (short stories) *1935: ''archy does his part'' (poems, sketches) *1936: ''Sun Dial Time'' (short stories) *1939: ''Sons of the Puritans'' (novel) *1940: ''the lives and times of archy and mehitabel'' (omnibus) *1946: ''The Best of Don Marquis'' (omnibus) *1978: ''Everything's Jake'' (play) *1982: ''Selected Letters of Don Marquis'' (letters) Edited by William McCollum Jr. *1996: ''archyology'' (poems, sketches) Edited by Jeff Adams. *1998: ''archyology ii'' (poems, sketches) Edited by Jeff Adams. *2006: ''The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel'' (poems, sketches) Edited by Michael Sims.

Notes

References

* "Humor’s sober side: Being an interview with Don Marquis, another of a series on ''how humorists get that way'' by

Josephine Van de Grift Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Coun ...

," ''Bisbee Daily Review'', October 13, 1922, p. 4.

External links

* * *
Essays by Don Marquis at Quotidiana.org

Don Marquis.org

Don Marquis.com
* * * * *
Finding aid to Don Marquis papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marquis, Don American cartoonists American columnists American humorists American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American poets 1878 births 1937 deaths Knox College (Illinois) alumni People from Bureau County, Illinois People from Walnut, Illinois Poets from Illinois Journalists from Illinois 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers