Jack Lait
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Jack Lait (March 13, 1883 – April 1, 1954) was an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
,
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
and
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
. During a 50-year career he wrote prolifically and became renowned as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known as co-author, with
Lee Mortimer Lee Mortimer (1904–1963) was an American newspaper columnist, radio commentator, crime lecturer, night club show producer, and author. He was born Mortimer Lieberman in Chicago, but was best known by the pen name he adopted as a young newspa ...
, of the controversial "Confidential" books, written in the late 1940s and early 1950s.


Early years

Jacquin Leonard Lait was born March 13, 1883 in
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 ...
. His family then moved to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, where Lait grew up. He went to
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
but skipped high school and took a number of jobs before entering the
Lewis Institute Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...
, where he graduated. Soon afterwards he began his journalistic career, working as a picture messenger for Chicago newspapers.


Journalistic career

Lait first reporting job was for the ''
Chicago American The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...
''. He readily adapted to the newspaper world of gangland-era Chicago, quickly learning the ins and outs of the police beat. Developing a knack for sensational reportage, he moved rapidly through the Hearst newspaper ranks from reporter to columnist and from editor to executive. He left Hearst for a couple of years and wrote a daily column for the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
''. In 1921, Lait became an editor of
King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
in New York. He wrote a syndicated column called ''All in the Family'', which ran for two decades in Hearst papers. He also had a
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
, ''Gus and Gussie'', illustrated by
Paul Fung Paul Fung (1897–1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip ''Dumb Dora''. Fung's father was a Baptist minister, the Reverend Fung Chak, a graduate of Stanford University. Paul was born in Seattle,< ...
, which ran from April 13, 1925 to February 24, 1930. In 1934 he became managing editor of the ''
New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...
'' and immediately fired his son George to avoid accusations of nepotism. In 1936, Lait was appointed editor of the ''
New York Daily Mirror The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and ''N ...
'', succeeding
Walter Howey Walter Crawford Howey (January 16, 1882 in Fort Dodge, Iowa – March 21, 1954 in Boston) was a Hearst newspaper editor and the model for Walter Burns, the scheming, ruthless managing editor in Hecht and MacArthur's play ''The Front Page''. Ea ...
. He remained editor until he went on sick leave in 1952. For 50 years, Lait was associated with the Hearst newspaper organization in one capacity or another. He covered every heavyweight championship fight for 35 years until his illness. During his tenure as editor of the ''New York Daily Mirror'', the tabloid doubled its circulation and claimed the second highest circulation of any U.S. newspaper. In 1963, nine years after Lait's death, it ceased publication following a strike and was absorbed into the then top-selling paper the ''
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
''. Lait was known as a taciturn, tireless digger of news stories. In July 1934, as the FBI was closing in on
John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...
in Chicago, he was on the scene for an exclusive when Dillinger was killed. Lait's story, dispatched to the
International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.
in New York, reached that city before even the Chicago papers were aware of what had happened. He was associated with entertainment newspaper ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' and became the head of the Chicago office as a side job. In 1911 he started his own newspaper with Tom Burke, the ''Chicago Morning Telegraph'', but did not stay at the newspaper long.


Books

He had a bestseller with ''Beef, Iron, and Wine'' featuring stories of the underworld.


The "Confidential" Books

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lait, with co-author
Lee Mortimer Lee Mortimer (1904–1963) was an American newspaper columnist, radio commentator, crime lecturer, night club show producer, and author. He was born Mortimer Lieberman in Chicago, but was best known by the pen name he adopted as a young newspa ...
, wrote a series of four controversial books detailing the seamy underside of America and three of its main cities. Each of the four books had the word "confidential" in its title. Mortimer was a ''New York Daily Mirror'' newspaper columnist whom Lait had hired in the 1930s when he was editor. The first book to appear was ''New York Confidential: The Lowdown on Its Bright Life'', published in 1948. ''Chicago Confidential'' (1950) and ''Washington Confidential'' (1951) followed soon afterwards, with ''USA Confidential'' appearing in 1952. The books sold very well, and ''Washington Confidential'' became a bestseller in 1951. The books garnered much criticism in the press and elsewhere for their sensational, salacious tone and "nonfactual accounts of alleged crime-politics links, vice and scandal." In ''
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 ...
'' review ''USA Confidential'' was labeled "a rather hard-breathing lecture on coast-to-coast depravity that represents about as discouraging a picture of America as you can find at the moment." Several lawsuits were filed against Lait and Mortimer due to the "Confidential" books. Perhaps the most prominent lawsuit was by the Neiman Marcus Co., which alleged that it and its employees had been libeled in ''U.S.A. Confidential''. Neiman sought damages totaling $7,400,000. In August 1952, a federal judge dismissed the suits on the grounds that plaintiffs had not been sufficiently identified in the book to claim damages. In April 1953, Lait and Mortimer counter-sued seeking $1,500,000 for "conspiracy and agreement to restrain commerce, and suppress the printing, publication and distribution" of the book. Sixty-three years after its publication ''Washington Confidential'' was described in an account as an "infamous guide to the D.C. demimonde" written by "a pair of right-wing hacks determined to peel back the city's white-frosted veneer to expose a fetid underbelly of Communist sympathizers, Chinese bookies, call girls, Mafiosi, and homosexuals." It adds that while the book drips with disdain, it's "an underhanded ethnography rich in fascinating period detail.""Washington Confidential: An Accidental Guide to the Gay D.C. of 1951" by Neda Ulaby ''CityPaper'' (Washington, D.C.) (June 6, 2014
Article
/ref> Lait and Mortimer's books inspired the films '' New York Confidential'' (1955) and ''
Chicago Confidential ''Chicago Confidential'' is a 1957 American crime film noir directed by Sidney Salkow, starring Brian Keith, Beverly Garland and Dick Foran. It is based on the 1950 book ''Chicago: Confidential!'' by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer. ''Chicago Confiden ...
'' (1957) and the television series '' New York Confidential''.


Other writing


Plays

In the summer of 1913 he was persuaded by
Wilson Mizner Wilson Mizner (May 19, 1876 – April 3, 1933) was an American playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur. His best-known plays are ''The Deep Purple'', produced in 1910, and ''The Greyhound'', produced in 1912. He was manager and co-owner of The ...
and Paul Armstrong to write his first play, ''Help Wanted'', which was a big success.


Films

He wrote some silent films for
Texas Guinan Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (January 12, 1884 – November 5, 1933) was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a st ...
and
Wallace Reid William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver. Early life Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...
and also worked on a freelance basis on screenplays.


Songs

He wrote several songs, including in collaboration with
Con Conrad Con Conrad (born Conrad K. Dober, June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) was an American songwriter and producer. Biography Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad p ...
.


Vaudeville

He became an impresario working with
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
organizing
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
shows at the American Music Hall in Chicago, including
Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...
's tours of the US and
Annette Kellermann Annette Marie Sarah Kellermann (6 July 1887 – 6 November 1975) was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, and writer. Kellermann was one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing costume, instead of the then ...
's first US appearance. In the early 1920s he became a writer for vaudeville acts, including
Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...
,
Emma Carus Emma Carus (March 18, 1879 – November 18, 1927) was an American contralto singer from New York City who was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies in 1907. She frequently sang in vaudeville and sometimes in Broadway features.'' ...
and
Georgie Price George Edwards "Georgie" Price (January 5, 1901 – May 10, 1964) was an American vaudeville singer and comic who performed in Vitaphone shorts in the 1920s and 1930s. Early life, family and education Price was born on the Lower East Side of ...
, with up to 30 acts playing at the same time.


Politics

He was a political adviser to
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
when he was governor of New York.


Personal life and death

Lait married Laura Belle Leusch on March 6, 1906. Together they had a daughter, Lois, and two sons, Jack Lait, Jr., who became the radio and television editor at the ''
Los Angeles Examiner The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' was a newspaper founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst in Los Angeles, California. The afternoon ''Los Angeles Herald-Express'' and the morning ''Los Angeles Examiner'', both of which had been publishing in the ...
'', and George Lait, a director of publicity at
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
. Lait was bedridden for 18 months from October 1952 and went into a coma before he died April 1, 1954 of a circulatory ailment at his home in
Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
at the age of 71. He was survived by his wife and his three children.


Works


Plays

*''Help Wanted'', February 11, 1914 - May 1914 *''One of Us'', September 9, 1918 - Sep 1918 *''Spice of 1922'', riginal, Musical, RevueJuly 6, 1922 - Sep 9, 1922 *''Rufus LeMaire's Affairs'', riginal, Musical, RevueMarch 28, 1927 - May 1927 *''The Hook-up'', May 7, 1935 - May 1935


Books

*''Beef, Iron, and Wine'' (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1916) *''The Broadway Melody'' (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1929); novelization of the
Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film ''Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. ...
film scenario
The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor sequen ...
*''The Big House'' (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930); novelization of the
Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...
and George Hill film scenario The Big House *''Gangster Girl'' (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930) *''Put on the Spot'' (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930); basis of 1931 film
Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...
*''
The Beast of the City ''The Beast of the City'' is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film featuring cops as vigilantes and known for its singularly vicious ending. Written by W.R. Burnett, Ben Hecht (uncredited), and John Lee Mahin, and directed by Charles Brabin, th ...
'' (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1932); novelization of the screenplay by
W.R. Burnett William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 April 25, 1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel ''Little Caesar'', the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster m ...
*''Our Will Rogers'' (New York: Greenberg, 1935) *''New York Confidential, The Lowdown on Its Bright Life'' (with co-author Lee Mortimer) (Chicago: Ziff-Davis, 1948) *''Washington Confidential'' (with Mortimer) (New York: Crown Publishers, 1951) *''Chicago Confidential'' (with Mortimer) (New York: Crown Publishers, 1950) *'' U.S.A. Confidential'' (with Mortimer) (New York: Crown Publishers, 1952)


Notes


References

*Lait, Jack and Lee Mortimer. ''Washington Confidential'' New York: Crown Publishers, 1951.


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lait, Jack 1954 deaths 1883 births 20th-century American novelists American columnists American male journalists American male novelists Writers from New York City 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers Variety (magazine) people