Dwight Deere Wiman (August 8, 1895 – January 20, 1951) was an American silent movie actor, playwright and theatrical director. He is best known as a

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 ...

producer.

Biography

Early life and education

Dwight Wiman was born in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

, one of two boys born to William Wiman (son of Erastus Wiman and Eleanor née Galbrith/Erastus was the son of Erastus Wyman and Therese Amelia née Matthews) and Anna Deere, a granddaughter of John Deere. His mother died in 1906 and after his grandfather, Charles Deere, died the following year he, his father and his brother, Charles Deere Wiman, went to live with his grandmother on her estate in Moline, which was named "Overlook". His grandmother died in 1913 and his father died in 1914. He and his brother were cared for by his uncle and aunt,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Katherine Butterworth who lived across the street. Both his grandfather, uncle and brother served as president of

Deere & Company Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

. He was sent to

Todd Seminary for Boys The Todd Seminary for Boys (1848–1954) was an independent preparatory school located in Woodstock, in the U.S. state of Illinois. From 1930 it was called the Todd School for Boys. Under headmaster Roger Hill from 1929, it became a progressive scho ...

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in (and the county seat of) McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 45 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 census, the population was 25,630. The city's hist ...

for school. He served in the military during

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 ...

and studied drama under Monty Woolley at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Career

He spent two years working for Deere & Company before he and a couple of his friends organized an independent film production company, Film Guild, in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

from 1920 to 1924. He acted in three silent movies during this time. The film company suffered from marketing difficulties and it dissolved. In 1925 he started a partnership with William A. Brady Jr. They produced plays such as ''Lucky Sam McCarver'' (1925), the revivals of ''

Little Eyolf Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

'' and ''The Two Orphans'' in 1926, ''The Road to Rome'' (1927), and ''

The Little Show ''The Little Show'' was a musical revue with lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It was the first of 11 musicals that featured the songs of Dietz and Schwartz. The revue opened at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway on April 30, 192 ...

'' (1929). Their working relationship ended amicably in 1929 as Wiman was the only one interested in musical theater. Between 1930 and 1951 he produced more than 50 shows. The more significant productions include: ''The Vinegar Tree'' (1930), ''

Gay Divorce ''Gay Divorce'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song " Night and Day" in which Astaire da ...

'' (1932), ''She Loves Me Not'' (1933), ''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dolan ...

'' (1936), ''

Babes in Arms ''Babes in Arms'' is a 1937 coming-of-age musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a group of small-town Long Island teenagers who put on a show to avoid being sent to a wor ...

'' (1937), ''On Borrowed Time'' (1938), ''

I Married an Angel ''I Married An Angel'' is a 1938 musical comedy by Rodgers and Hart. It was adapted from a play by Hungarian playwright János Vaszary, entitled ''Angyalt Vettem Felesegul''. The book was by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, with music by Rodge ...

'' (1938), ''

Morning's at Seven ''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to mak ...

'' (1939), ''

By Jupiter ''By Jupiter'' is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play ''The Warrior's Husband'' by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons. ''By Jupiter'' prem ...

'' (1942), and ''The Country Girl'' (1950). Wiman also directed works by

Paul Osborn Paul Osborn (September 4, 1901 – May 12, 1988) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Osborn's original plays are '' The Vinegar Tree'', ''Oliver Oliver'', and ''Morning's at Seven'' and among his several successful adaptations, ''On Bo ...

John Van Druten John William Van Druten (1 June 190119 December 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observation ...

, and

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

among others. He had a long association with

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...

. During

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 opposing ...

he served as the director of entertainment for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Personal life & Death

Dwight Wiman was married to Dorothea Stephens. The couple divorced in 1946. He died in

Hudson, New York Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...

in 1951 at the age of 56 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Moline.

Filmography

Dwight Wiman acted in the following silent films: *''

Youthful Cheaters ''Youthful Cheaters'' is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring William Calhoun, Glenn Hunter, and Martha Mansfield. Cast * William Calhoun as Edmund McDonald * Glenn Hunter as Ted MacDonald * Martha Mansf ...

'' (1923), as Dexter French *''

Puritan Passions ''Puritan Passions'' is a 1923 silent film directed by Frank Tuttle, based on Percy MacKaye's 1908 Play (theatre), play ''The Scarecrow (play), The Scarecrow'', which was itself based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Feathertop". The film s ...

'' (1923) as Richard Talbot *''Peter Stuyvesant'' (1924) as Charles II of England

Stage Productions

Dwight Wiman was the producer, director or writer for the following stage productions: *''Ostriches'' (1925), producer *''Lucky Sam McCarver'' (1925), producer *''

'', (1926), producer *''The Masque of Venice'' (1926), producer *''Devils'' (1926), producer *''The Two Orphans'' (1926), producer *''Seed of the Brute (1926), producer *''Hangman's House'' (1926), producer *''The Road to Rome'' (1927), producer *''The Dark'' (1927), producer *''House of Shadows'' (1927), producer *''Women Go On Forever'' (1927), producer *''The Command to Love'' (1927), producer *''The Queen's Husband'' (1928), producer *''The Road to Rome'' (1928), producer *''The Grey Fox'' (1928), producer *''The Jealous Moon'' (1928), producer *''A Most Immoral Lady'' (1928), director, producer *''Judas'', (1929), producer *''Paolo and Francesca'' (1929), producer *''

'' (1929), producer, director *''Jenny'' (1929), producer *'' The Second Little Show (1930), writer, director, producer *''The Vinegar Tree'' (1930), producer *''The Third Little Show'' (1931), writer, producer *'' After All!'' (1931), producer *''

'' (1932), producer *''Bad Manners'' (1933), producer, director *''Champagne, Sec'' (1933), producer *''She Loves Me Not'' (1933), producer *''The Wooden Slipper'' (1934), producer *''Oliver Oliver'' (1934), producer *''The Distaff Side'' (1934), producer *''The Distant Shore'' (1935), producer *''Most of the Game'' (1935), producer *''A Room in Red and White'' (1936), producer *''

'' (1936), producer *''

'' (1937), producer, production supervisor *''On Borrowed Time'' (1938), producer *''

'' (1938), producer *''Great Lady'' (1938), producer *''Stars in Your Eyes'' (1939), Producer *''

'' (1939), producer *''Leave Her To Heaven'' (1940), producer *'' Higher and Higher'' ( 1940), producer *''Old Acquaintance'' (1940), producer *''Letters to Lucerne'' (1941), producer *''Solitaire'' (1942), producer *''

'' (1942), producer *''The Damask Cheek'' (1942), producer *'' Street Scene'' (1947), producer *''A Story for Strangers'' (1948), producer *''The Big Knife'' (1949), producer *''Dance Me a Song'' (1950), producer *''The Country Girl'' (1950), producer *'' Romeo and Juliet'' (1951), producer

References

External links

Dwight Deere Wiman Papers
at the

Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiman, Dwight Deere 1895 births 1951 deaths People from Moline, Illinois Yale University alumni Broadway theatre directors Broadway theatre producers American male film actors American male silent film actors American theatre managers and producers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Illinois Male actors from New York City Writers from Illinois Writers from New York City 20th-century American male actors