Philip Hart Dunning (December 11, 1889 – July 20, 1968) was a playwright and theatrical producer.

Theater and films

Dunning began his career at age 12 as an extra and a carnival magician, and enlisted in the Navy during World War I. President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

having made up his mind to visit Europe, Dunning was assigned to the SS ''George Washington'' to keep the President's party and the officers and crew in a happy frame of mind. One of his shipboard hits was a farce called ''Uncle Tom's Stateroom''. The President enjoyed it and wrote his appreciation and signature on his program as a memento for Dunning. One of the acts, ''Every Sailor'', ran for 65 consecutive weeks in vaudeville after the war. Dunning collaborated with

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the ...

to create '' Broadway'', one of the most successful plays of the 1920s. Dunning and Abbott produced '' Twentieth Century'', the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur satire on the theater. Dunning served in the Navy during World War II and produced the all-Navy show ''Biff! Bang!'' He worked in Hollywood for Darryl Zanuck as a screenwriter.

Death

Dunning and his wife had been swimming at Westport's Compo Beach. Upon their return home, Dunning complained of shortness of breath. He died of a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on the way to Norwalk Hospital and is interred in Assumption Cemetery,

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

.''Bridgeport Post'' obituary
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References

External links

* *
Philip Dunning papers, 1912-1968
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunning, Philip H. 1889 births 1968 deaths American theatre managers and producers American entertainment industry businesspeople People from Meriden, Connecticut 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights