Jules Eckert Goodman (November 2, 1876 – July 10, 1962) was an American playwright and author. He was best known for his plays ''The Man Who Came Back'' (1916), '' The Silent Voice'' (1914), ''Chains'' (1923), and a series of plays featuring Potash and Permutter written with

Montague Glass Montague Marsden Glass (July 23, 1877 – February 3, 1934) was a British-American Jewish lawyer and writer of short stories, plays and film scripts. His greatest success came with the creation of his fictional duo Abe Potash and Morris ("Mawrus ...

Life and career

Jules Eckert Goodman was born November 2, 1876 in

Gervais, Oregon Gervais is a city in Marion County, Oregon, Marion County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,464 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The city is named for settler ...

, one of six children born to S. Newman and Jenette ( Rothschild) Goodman. His family was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and his mother was a native of

San Francisco, California 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 17th ...

. Prior to settling in Gervais and starting a family, Jeanette had resided in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Multnomah Hotel The Multnomah Hotel, located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States, is a historic hotel building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It currently operates as the Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Downtown. History The 70 ...

. Goodman received an undergraduate degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1899 and master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1901. He was managing editor for four years of '' Current Literature'' and also wrote for ''Outing'' and the ''Dramatic Mirror''.Chronicle and Comment
'' The Bookman (New York)'', April 1911, p. 129Vicissitudes of a Playwright
''Theatre Magazine'', January 1916, at p. 17 He had his first success on Broadway with 1910's ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

''. The successful ''The Silent Voice'' (1914) (derived from a short story by Gouverneur Morris (novelist), Gouverneur MorrisMorris, Gouverneur
The Man Who Played God
in ''

Cosmopolitan (magazine) ''Cosmopolitan'' is an American monthly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, since 1965, has become a wome ...

'', Vol. 52, No. 2, January 1912, at p. 278-89) was adapted to film four times; first in 1915, then again in 1922 under the title ''The Man Who Played God'' (the title of the original Morris story). A talking-movie version also called '' The Man Who Played God'' appeared in 1932, starring George Arliss (who was also in the 1922 silent film) and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

, a role she credited as her big "break" in Hollywood. Lastly, and least appealingly, it appeared as a campy 1955 star vehicle for

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

called ''Sincerely Yours''.Wilson, John
The Official Razzie Movie Guide
p. 92-94 (2005) Schuchman, John S.br>Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry
p. 111 (1988) Among other film adaptions of Goodman's work, '' The Man Who Came Back'' appeared in 1931. Goodman's reported last play ''Many Mansions'' (1937) was written with his son Eckert Goodman.Bordman, Gerald & Thomas S. Hischak
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
p. 270 (3d ed. 2004) Goodman died of pneumonia in Peekskill, New York, where he had resided for forty years, on July 10, 1962. His wife died in 1959, and he was survived by one son (Jules Eckert Goodman Jr., who died in 1964, aged 55), and two daughters, Helen Goodman and Anna Freedgood.(11 July 1962)
Jules E. Goodman, Playwright, Dies; Works Were Presented on Broadway and as Movie
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Selected bibliography

Plays

* ''The Man Who Stood Still'' (1908)(16 October 1908)
Louis Mann Seen In A Melodrama
''

'' * ''The Right to Live'' (1908) * ''The Test'' (1908) * ''

'' (1910) * ''The Point of View'' (1912)New York Times Oct. 26, 1912 * '' The Silent Voice'' (1914)The New Plays
''Theatre Magazine'', February 1915, Vol. XXI, No. 168, p. 56, 59 * ''The Trap'' (1915) * ''Just Outside the Door'' (1915) * ''Treasure Island'' (1915) (adaption of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

novel) * '' The Man Who Came Back'' (1916) * ''Object - Matrimony'' (1916) (written with

)) * ''Business Before Pleasure'' (1917) (written with Montague Glass) * ''Why Worry?'' (1918)(written with Montague Glass) * ''His Honor: Abe Potash'' (1919) (written with Montague Glass) * ''Pietro'' (1920) (written with Maud Skinner) * ''The Law Breaker'' (1922) * ''Partners Again'' (1922) (written with Montague Glass) * ''Chains'' (1923) * ''Simon Called Peter'' (1924) (written with

Edward Knoblock Edward Knoblock (born Edward Gustavus Knoblauch; 7 April 1874 – 19 July 1945) was a playwright and novelist, originally American and later a naturalised British citizen. He wrote numerous plays, often at the rate of two or three a year, of whic ...

) * ''Potash and Permutter, Detectives'' (1926) (with Montague Glass) * ''The Great Romancer'' (1937)(16 June 1937)
Play on Dumas In London
''

'' * ''Many Mansions'' (1937) (written with his son) * ''George Worthing, American'' (debuted 1948, written earlier)(3 November 1948)
Premiere Tonight of Heyward Play
''

Novels

* ''Mother'' (1911) (adapted from the play)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Jules Eckert 1876 births 1962 deaths Writers from Oregon People from Gervais, Oregon Harvard University alumni Columbia University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) American dramatists and playwrights