Owen Frawley Kildare (June 11, 1864February 4, 1911)
was an American writer active in the early 20th century. His short stories and novels described the grim realities of life in a
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 ...
slum. Often heard to comment that he was "born in the gutter", he was known as "the
Mr. Bounderby of American Letters"
and "the
Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...
of the
Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
".
Early life
Kildare was born on New York's
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
in 1864. His father, an
Irish immigrant, died three months before his birth; his mother, a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
immigrant, died soon after his birth. He was raised by a foster family until the age of seven when he began life on his own. He then sold newspapers on a crew managed by
Timothy Sullivan. He could not read or write until he was 30 years old.
Alternate early biography
During Kildare's life, ''The New York Times'' suggested that his name was a
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
.
[ Then in one of Kildare's obituaries, ''The Times'' printed a conversation with "Red" Shaughnessy, a regular at "The Doctor's Bar" in the Bowery, who claimed that Kildare was really Thomas Carroll. According to Shaughnessy, Carroll had been born in Carrollton, Maryland, into a branch of the influential Carroll family. He ran away from home and became a ]newspaper hawker
A newspaper hawker, newsboy or newsie is a street vendor of newspapers without a fixed newsstand. Related jobs included paperboy, delivering newspapers to subscribers, and news butcher, selling papers on trains. Adults who sold newspapers from f ...
and fighter, preferring a tough life in the Bowery to that in a comfortable Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
suburb. ''The Literary Digest'' suggested that the alternate details might be the work of a clever newspaper writer.
Later life
Kildare began earning money as a prize fighter
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
, and later he became a bouncer
A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or m ...
and a bartender in the Bowery.[ In 1901 he participated in a failed coup to depose Venezuelan dictator ]Cipriano Castro
José Cipriano Castro Ruiz (12 October 1858 – 4 December 1924) was a high-ranking member of the Venezuelan military, politician and the president of Venezuela from 1899 to 1908. He was the first man from the Andes to rule the country, and was ...
, and after returning to New York he wrote short stories for magazines and newspapers. He became an associate editor of '' Pearson's Magazine'' and later started the short-lived Kildare Publishing Company.[
Two women in his life helped Kildare in his writing. A teacher named Marie Rose Deering tutored Kildare while he was learning to read and write. The two became engaged, but Deering died a week before their marriage. Kildare then met Leita Russell Bogartus,][Alternate spelling Bogardus] a writer who helped him edit and publish some of his work. He later married Bogartus.[
]
Death
Kildare and playwright Walter C. Hackett
Walter C. Hackett (November 10, 1876 – January 20, 1944) was an American-British playwright.
Biography
Several of his stage works (such as ''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure'', ''The Freedom of the Seas'', ''The Regeneration'', ''Hyde Park Corne ...
adapted ''My Mamie Rose'', Kildare's first major work and autobiography, for the stage in 1908, starring actor Arnold Daly. The production was titled ''Regeneration'', and Kildare became angry and despondent after seeing Daly's interpretation of his character. Then after a fall in the subway, Kildare suffered a mental breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
.[ He was placed in Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital and later moved to ]Bloomingdale Insane Asylum
The Bloomingdale Insane Asylum (1821–1889) was an American private hospital for the care of the mentally ill, founded by New York Hospital. It was located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, where Columbia U ...
. From the time of his hospitalization in 1908 until his death, he would not leave the psychiatric hospital system. He died after a seizure in 1911 at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center.[
]
Major works
* ''My Mamie Rose'' (Baker and Taylor Co., 1903)
* ''The Good of the Wicked'' (Baker and Taylor Co., 1904)
* ''The Wisdom of the simple'' (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1905)
* ''My Old Bailiwick'' (Grosset and Dunlap Co., 1906)
Film
''My Mamie Rose'' was adapted by Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He w ...
for the silent film ''Regeneration'' in 1915.
References
External links
"My Rise from the Slums to Manhood"
by Owen Kildare. Autobiographical details.
"The Requiem of the 'Has-Beens'"
by Owen Kildare. A description of the homeless population of the Bowery.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kildare, Owen Frawley
1864 births
1911 deaths
American people of Irish descent
American people of French descent
People from the Lower East Side
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
American publishers (people)
American editors
American male short story writers
20th-century American short story writers
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from New York (state)
19th-century American businesspeople
Cooper Union alumni