Gladys Buchanan Unger (September 16, 1884 or 1885 – May 25, 1940) was an American author who also lived in England, and who wrote plays for

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 ...

and the West End, as well as screenplays for

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, ...

. She was the author of well over a dozen works for the

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 ...

stage, Broadway, and Hollywood.

Biography

She was born either on September 16, 1884, or September 16, 1885 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, the daughter of Frank Unger. From the age of 3, she lived in England and was educated at South

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

. Her initial aim was to become an artist, but she turned to play writing. She was a protegee of

Charles Tyson Yerkes Charles Tyson Yerkes Jr. ( ; June 25, 1837 – December 29, 1905) was an American financier. He played a part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London. Philadelphia Yerkes was born into a Quaker family in the Northern Liberties, ...

, and had $5000 a year from him, enabling her to live in some style in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, London. There was speculation in the American press about the nature of the relationship between them (e.g. ''

The Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the decline ...

'', 19 August 1904, quoting ''The Wasp''). From about 1907 to 1914, she lived with her mother (critic Mrs Minnie Goodman) at

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

in a house then called Hacienda, now Kilindini, Steeds Way,

. In 1920, she married a dramatic collaborator, Kai K. Ardaschir, in London. She returned to the United States intermittently and in the 1920s, permanently, and died on May 25, 1940, at the Medical Arts Center in

Manhattan 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 ...

at age 55. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

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 ...

Works authored

* ''Mr. Sheridan'' (play, produced at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

, March 1907)Reviewed in ''Lloyds Weekly News'' dated 10 March 1907 * ''

The Marriage Market ''The Marriage Market'' (Leányvásár) is an operetta by Hungarian composer Victor Jacobi. It was premiered on 14 November 1911 at the Király Színház (King Theater) in Budapest and was the composer's first significant success not only in Hu ...

'' (1911) English adaptation * ''

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...

'' (1916) * '' The Werewolf'' (1924) English adaptation of ''Der Werwolf'' by Rudolph Lothar * ''

The Heart Thief ''The Heart Thief'' is a 1927 American silent romantic drama film directed by Nils Olaf Chrisander and starring Joseph Schildkraut, Lya De Putti, and Robert Edeson.Bock & Bergfelder, p. 83 Cast * Joseph Schildkraut as Paul Kurt * Lya De Pu ...

'' (1927) * ''

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

'' (1929) * ''Marianne'' (1929) ( silent and

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

versions) * ''

Madam Satan ''Madam Satan'' or ''Madame Satan'' is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film in black and white with Multicolor sequences. It was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny, Lillian Roth, and Rolan ...

'' (1931) * '' Many a Slip'' (1931) * '' Sylvia Scarlett'' (1935) * '' Music Is Magic'' (1935) * '' Night of Mystery'' (1937) * ''

Daughter of Shanghai ''Daughter of Shanghai'' is a 1937 American crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring Anna May Wong. Unusually for the time, East Asian American actors played the lead roles. It was also one of the first films in which Anthony Quinn appe ...

'' (1937) * ''

Paradise for Three ''Paradise for Three'', titled ''Romance for Three'' in the United Kingdom, is a 1938 romantic comedy film starring Frank Morgan as a wealthy industrialist who decides to find out about his German workers by temporarily living among them incognit ...

'' (1938)

References

External links

* * *
Gladys Unger
at

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...

Plays by Gladys Unger on Great War Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unger, Gladys Buchanan 1880s births 1940 deaths Screenwriters from California People from Loughton Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) American women screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Writers from San Francisco American expatriates in the United Kingdom American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American screenwriters