Horace Brisbin Liveright (pronounced "LIVE-right," anglicized by Horace's father from the German ''Liebrecht;'' 10 December 1884 – 24 September 1933) was an American

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and stage producer. With Albert Boni, he founded the

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...

and Boni & Liveright publishers. He published the books of numerous influential American and British authors. Turning to theatre, he produced the successful 1927

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 ...

play ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'', with

Béla Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic Dracula (1931 English-lan ...

and

Edward Van Sloan Edward Van Sloan (born Edward Paul Van Sloun; November 1, 1882 – March 6, 1964) was an American character actor best remembered for his roles in the Universal Studios horror films such as ''Dracula'' (1931), ''Frankenstein'' (1931), and ''Th ...

in the roles they would make famous in the 1931 film by the same name.

Life and career

Liveright was born into a Jewish family in 1884, in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania. He initially followed the career of a bond salesman. He married Lucille Elsas, the daughter of Herman Elsas the owner of a paper company merged into

International Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

of which he was subsequently an officer and director. The marriage took place in April 1911, and Liveright used his father-in-law's financial backing to embark on a publishing career.Teachout, Terry. "Huckster and Publisher"
''The New York Times'', 16 July 1995, Accessed 14 June 2007 The Liverights had two children, Herman and Lucy. Lucille divorced Liveright on grounds of misconduct in 1928, alleging "misconduct with an actress in an inn near Croton-on-Hudson." In December 1931 he married the actress

Elise Bartlett Elise Bartlett (born Elise Bartlett Porter; October 5, 1897 – May 22, 1947) was an American actress who appeared in numerous stage productions throughout the 1920s and 1930s, as well as several feature films, including the 1929 film Show Boat. ...

(who had appeared in ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' and had divorced actor

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for h ...

in 1930); she filed for divorce four months later."Horace Liveright Dies of Pneumonia", ''New York Times'', September 25, 1933. p. 15

Publishing career

In 1917 Liveright founded the

and Boni & Liveright

publishers Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with business partner

Albert Boni Albert Boni (October 29, 1892, New York City – July 31, 1981, Ormond Beach, Florida) was co-founder of the publishing company Boni & Liveright and a pioneering publisher in paperbacks and book clubs. Biography Born in 1892 to a Jewish family i ...

. Modern Library was formed as a reprinting line, publishing inexpensive books from European modernists, while Boni & Liveright published the work of contemporary Americans.

.
About Modern Library
. Accessed 14 June 2007.Columbia University Libraries. 2006.

(interview transcript, session 2, page 98). Accessed 14 June 2007. Liveright published work by T. S. Eliot (''

The Waste Land ''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the Octob ...

''),

Charles Fort Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold w ...

(''

The Book of the Damned ''The Book of the Damned'' was the first published nonfiction work by American author Charles Fort (first edition 1919). Concerning various types of anomalous phenomena including UFOs, strange falls of both organic and inorganic materials fr ...

''),

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

(''

An American Tragedy ''An American Tragedy'' is a 1925 novel by American writer Theodore Dreiser. He began the manuscript in the summer of 1920, but a year later abandoned most of that text. It was based on the notorious murder of Grace Brown in 1906 and the trial of ...

''), and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

(''Marriage and Morals''). The company also published the first books by

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 ...

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

Hart Crane Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, '' The Brid ...

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 ...

, and

S. J. Perelman Sidney Joseph Perelman (February 1, 1904 – October 17, 1979) was an American humorist and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for ''The New Yorker''. He also wrote for several other magazines ...

. Liveright believed that books could be marketed similarly to other media and was among the first to aggressively sell novels. Liveright was also a vocal campaigner against the strict literary

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

of the period.Trivia-Library.
Biography of Famous Alcoholic and Producer Horace Liveright
. Accessed 14 June 2007. Despite their successes, Liveright and Boni's relationship broke down and the pair chose to part ways. It is reported that they flipped a coin to decide who would buy the other out, and Liveright gained control. In 1923, Liveright's alcoholism started to take its toll. Throwing frequent, lavish parties, he would over-indulge many nights per week.

Stage production

Liveright started his stage production career in 1924. His initial choices of plays were not successful, and he had to use an increasing amount of money from his publishing company. His faltering financial status meant that he had to sell the Modern Library to then-vice-president

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

in 1925. Liveright started to put money from the publishing company into Broadway productions but soon found that the erratic success of the Boni & Liveright publishers was not a secure income; the Modern Library had been the backbone of his finances. In 1928 he lost control of Boni & Liveright and was pushed out entirely by 1930. Liveright achieved success in theatre. His production of ''

'' debuted on 5 October 1927, three years after the first authorized adaptation by

Hamilton Deane Hamilton Deane (1880 – 25 October 1958) was an Irish actor, playwright and director. He played a key role in popularising Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula'' as a 1924 stage play and a 1931 film. Biography Deane was born in New Ross in C ...

. Liveright had employed John L. Balderston to revise the script for an American audience. He brought in

to play Dracula (his first major English-speaking role).

played Van Helsing. The actors reprised these roles in

Tod Browning Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of vari ...

's 1931 film by the same name. Despite an income of over $2 million from the play, Liveright failed to fulfill his business responsibilities, never paying $678.01 in royalties to Florence Balcombe, the widow of the original author

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

Death

Liveright died of pneumonia on September 24, 1933, aged forty-nine. Years of alcoholism and his business failures likely contributed to his death. Six people were said to have attended his funeral.

Portrayal and biography

*Ben Hecht wrote and directed the film '' The Scoundrel'' (

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

), inspired by Liveright and his friend Tommy Smith. 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 ...

winner, it marked the on-screen debut for

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

, who played the central character. *Tom Dardis wrote a biography of Liveright, called ''Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright'' (1995) ().

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liveright, Horace American publishers (people) American theatre managers and producers American Jews 1880s births 1933 deaths