Ida Alexa Ross Wylie
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Ida Alexa Ross Wylie (16 March 1885 – 4 November 1959), known by her pen name I.A.R. Wylie, was an Australian-British-American novelist, screenwriter, short story writer, and poet and suffragette sympathiser, who was honored by the journalistic and literary establishments of her time, and was known around the world. Between 1915 and 1953, more than thirty of her novels and stories were adapted into films, including '' Keeper of the Flame'' (1942), which was directed by
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 ...
and starred
Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
and
Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
.


Biography


Early life

Wylie was born Ida Alexa Ross Wylie on 16 March 1885 in Melbourne, Australia to Alexander Coghill Wylie (1852–1910) from England and Ida Millicent Ross (1855–1890), a farmer's daughter from Australia. I.A.R. Wylie's father, Alec Wylie of Glasgow, Scotland, was in debt much of his life and often on the move from creditors. And so it was that sometime in the 1880s, after failing to be elected as an MP, he fled the UK for Australia, but not before his first wife divorced him in 1883 for adultery and violence, winning custody of their two children and also proposing to her sister, Christine (who refused). In Australia, he soon married a farmer's daughter named Ida Ross. The couple's first child, I.A.R. Wylie, was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1885, literally named after her parents: Ida Ross and Alec Wylie. In 1888, Alec moved back to London with his new wife and young child, but Ida Ross died shortly thereafter. According to Ida's book ''Life with George'' an "unconventional autobiography" - Alec then renewed relations with Christine, his first wife's sister, and Christine became the young Wylie's home school teacher and guardian, raising her while her father struggled from one crisis to the next. At one point, young Ida briefly attended Cheltenham Ladies College. In terms of influence on her development, "Christine was just the first of a line of women who proved far stronger and more reliable than any man in Ida's life." However, marriage records show Wylie's third marriage was to Adela Maude B de Burgh Lawson, daughter of Sir Henry de Burgh Lawson of Gatherley Castle; it may be Adela who is Christine (Wylie's first marriage was to Emillie Isabel Roumieu).


Early writing career

After spending three years in finishing school in Belgium, Wylie first studied in England, and later in Germany, where she also taught and began writing. Wylie's self-education at home meant she spent many hours making up her own stories to fill up time, and, at the age of 19, she sold her first short story to a magazine. For example, Wylie had a roommate named Esme who had been raised in India and so she wrote stories based on Esme's reminisces. Wylie went on to write at least five books based in India, ''The Native Born, or, The Rajah's People'' (1910); ''The Daughter of Brahma'' (1913); ''Tristram Sahib'' (1915); ''The Temple of Dawn'' (1915); and ''The Hermit Doctor of Gaya'' (1916). While living in Germany in the early 1910s, she wrote a number of books including ''My German Year'' (1910); ''Rambles in the Black Forest'' (1911); ''The Germans'' (1911); and ''Eight Years in Germany'' (1914). Her novel, ''Towards Morning'' (1918), was "perhaps the first in English to suggest that not all Germans were evil imperialists."


Role in suffragette movement

In 1911, Wylie returned to England, living in
St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...
, London, and joined the
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to member ...
movement. She provided a safe house for women who were released from prison where they could recover from
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
s under the "
Cat and Mouse Act The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under H. H. Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. Some members of the Women's Social and Political Un ...
" without being watched by the police. She struck up a relationship with the editor of "'' The Suffragette''",
Rachel Barrett Rachel Barrett (12 November 1874 – 26 August 1953) was a Welsh suffragette and newspaper editor born in Carmarthen. Educated at the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth she became a science teacher, but quit her job in 1906 on hearing ...
, and by mid 1913 was a useful "sub-editor and bottle-washer". She traveled with Annie and
Jessie Kenney Jessica "Jessie" Kenney (1887 – 1985) was an English suffragette who was jailed for assaulting the Prime Minister and Home Secretary in a protest to gain suffrage for women in the UK. Details of a bombing campaign to support their cause were ...
and
Mary Richardson Mary Raleigh Richardson (1882/3 – 7 November 1961) was a Canadian suffragette active in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom, an arsonist, a socialist parliamentary candidate and later head of the women's section of the Br ...
to spend a week in France with
Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed its militant actions from exil ...
. Wylie and Barrett then traveled to Edinburgh to Wylie's aunt Jane, where Barrett had surgery and lived under a pseudonym to avoid re-arrest. Both returned to London for Christmas 1913, and continued to secretly edit ''The Suffragette'' until May 1914 when police again raided the premises in
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...
. In 1917, Barrett and Wylie traveled to America. They bought a car and roamed around the country, from
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 ...
to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, a remarkable journey with the state of roads and cars at the time.


Hollywood

Wylie eventually settled in
Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Picture ...
where she sold her stories. Over 30 movies were made from 1915 to 1953 based on her works, including ''
Phone Call from a Stranger ''Phone Call from a Stranger'' is a 1952 American film noir drama film directed by Jean Negulesco from a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on the 1950 novelette of the same name by I. A. R. Wylie. The film centers on the survivor of an airc ...
'' (1952) and ''
Torch Song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...
'' (1953). Her story "Grandmother Bernle Learns Her Letters", published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' in 1926, was filmed twice—by
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
in 1928 as ''
Four Sons ''Four Sons'' is a 1928 American silent drama film directed and produced by John Ford and written for the screen by Philip Klein from a story by I. A. R. Wylie first published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' as "Grandmother Bernle Learns Her ...
'', and by
Archie Mayo Archibald L. Mayo (January 29, 1891 – December 4, 1968) was a film director, screenwriter and actor. Early years The son of a tailor, Mayo was born in New York City. After attending the city's public schools, he studied at Columbia Unive ...
in 1940, also as ''
Four Sons ''Four Sons'' is a 1928 American silent drama film directed and produced by John Ford and written for the screen by Philip Klein from a story by I. A. R. Wylie first published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' as "Grandmother Bernle Learns Her ...
''. She is probably best known as the author of the novel that became the basis of the film '' Keeper of the Flame'' (1942), directed by
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 ...
and starring
Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
and
Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
.


Personal life

Wylie became involved with physician
Sara Josephine Baker Sara Josephine Baker (November 15, 1873 – February 22, 1945) was an American physician notable for making contributions to public health, especially in the immigrant communities of New York City. Her fight against the damage that widespread ur ...
. Neither Baker nor Wylie ever declared themselves openly as lesbians, but according to Dr. Bert Hansen, the two women were partners." Other authors have identified her as a lesbian, including Laura Doan, Anne McMay, and Barbara Grier. In her autobiography ''My Life with George'', in which the "George" of the title is her subconscious ego, Wylie says:
I have always liked women better than men. I am more at ease with them and more amused by them. I too am rather bored by a conventional relationship which seems to involve either my playing up to someone or playing down to someone. Here and there and especially in my latter years when there should be no further danger of my trying to ensnare one of them I have established some real friendships with men in which we meet and like each other on equal terms as human beings. But fortunately, I have never wanted to marry any of them, nor with the exception of that one misguided German Grenadier, have any of them wanted to marry me.Ida Alexa Ross Wylie. ''My Life with George''
In her autobiography she acknowledges that many of her women friends refer to her as "Uncle," and as one critic says, her choice of being credited as "I.A.R. Wylie" instead of Ida Wylie was certainly an attempt to downplay her gender in publications.Dr. Bert Hansen
"Public Careers and Private Sexuality: Some Gay and Lesbian Lives in the History of Medicine and Public Health"
/ref> In the 1930s, Wylie, Sara Josephine Baker, and another pioneering woman physician, Dr.
Louise Pearce Louise Pearce (March 5, 1885 – August 10, 1959) was an American pathologist at the Rockefeller Institute who helped develop a treatment for African sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis). Sleeping sickness was a fatal epidemic which had dev ...
, settled on a property near Skillman, New Jersey named Trevenna Farm. They lived there together until Baker died in 1945, followed by Pearce, and then later Wylie, who died on 4 November 1959 at the age of 74. Wylie and Pearce are buried alongside each other at Henry Skillman Burying Ground, Trevenna Farm's family cemetery.


Works

* ''The Native Born, or, The Rajah's People'' (1910) * ''My German Year'' (1910) * ''Rambles in the Black Forest'' (1911) * ''The Germans'' (1911) * ''Dividing Waters'' (1911) * ''In Different Keys'' (1911) * ''The Daughter of Brahma'' (1913) * '' The Red Mirage'' (1913) * ''The Paupers of Portman Square'' (1913) * ''Five Years to Find Out'' (1914) * ''Eight Years in Germany'' (1914) * ''Tristram Sahib'' (1915) * ''The Temple of Dawn'' (1915) * ''Happy Endings'' (1915) * ''The Hermit Doctor of Gaya'' (1916) * ''Armchair Stories'' (1916) * ''The Duchess in Pursuit'' (1917) * ''Toward Morning'' (1918) * ''The Shining Heights'' (1918) * ''All Sorts'' (1919) * ''Holy Fire: And Other Stories'' (1920) * ''Children of Storm'' (1920) * ''Brodie and the Deep Sea'' (1920) * ''Rogues & Company'' (1921) * ''The Dark House'' (1922) * ''Jungle Law'' (1923) * ''Side Shows'' (1923) * ''Ancient Fires'' (1924) * ''Black Harvest'' (1926) * ''The Mad Busman, and Other Stories'' (1926) * ''The Silver Virgin'' (1929) * ''Some Other Beauty'' (1930) * ''The Things We Do, and Other Stories'' (1932) * ''Prelude to Richard'' (1934) * ''To The Vanquished'' (1934) * ''A Feather in Her Hat'' (1934) * ''The Novels of Elinor Wylie'' (1934) * ''The Inheritors, and With Their Eyes Open'' (1936) * ''Furious Young Man'' (1936) * ''The Underpup'' (1938) * ''The Young in Heart'' (1938) * ''My Life With George: An Unconventional Autobiography'' (1940) * ''Strangers Are Coming'' (1941) * ''Keeper of the Flame'' (1942) * ''Flight to England'' (1943) * ''Ho, the Fair Wind'' (1945) * ''Storm in April'' (1946) * ''Where No Birds Sing'' (1947) * ''Candles for Therese'' (1951) * ''The Undefeated'' (1957) * ''Home Are the Hunted'' (1959) * ''Claire Serrat'' (1959)


References


Further reading

* Wylie, I. A. .R. (June 1914)
"About Myself"
''The Book News Monthly''. Volume 32, Part 2. pp. 467–469. * Starr, Meredith (1921)
"I. A. R. Wylie"
''Future of the Novel: Famous Authors on Their Methods; A Series of Interviews with Renowned Authors''. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company. pp. 124–125. * Wylie, I. A. R. (April 1922)
"Release"
''
Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...
''. Volume 74. pp. 16–22 and 156–166.


External links

* * * *
Articles published by I. A. R. Wylie
in ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wylie, Ida Alexa Ross 1885 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century Australian novelists Australian women novelists English women novelists American women novelists Writers from Melbourne Australian LGBT writers English LGBT writers American LGBT novelists 20th-century American women writers Women's Social and Political Union American suffragists Australian suffragists