Rida Johnson Young (February 28, 1875 – May 8, 1926) was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist.IBDB
Rida Johnson Young
Retrieved November 21, 2007 In her career, Young wrote over thirty plays and musicals, and over 500 songs. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Some of her best-known lyrics include "

Mother Machree ''Mother Machree'' is a 1928 American silent drama film, directed by John Ford, based on the 1924 work ''The Story of Mother Machree'' by Rida Johnson Young about a poor Irish immigrant in America. Rida Johnson Young had invented Mother Machre ...

" from the 1910 show ''Barry of Ballymore'', "Italian Street Song", "I'm Falling in Love with Someone" and "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" from '' Naughty Marietta'', and "Will You Remember?" from '' Maytime''.

Early life and career

Young was born in

Baltimore, Maryland 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 ...

. She was an actress early in her career with both the

Viola Allen Viola Emily Allen (October 27, 1867 – May 9, 1948) was an American stage actress who played leading roles in Shakespeare and other plays, including many original plays. She starred in over two dozen Broadway productions from 1885 to 1916. Be ...

and E. H. Sothern Broadway (New York) companiesBiography of Young
/ref> before working for the music publisher Isidore Witmark. As a playwright, her first work, ''Lord Byron'', was produced in 1900 by actor-producer James Young, to whom she was married from 1904 to 1910. He was later married to the silent film actress Clara Kimball. Young's ''Brown of Harvard'' opened in 1906 at Princess Theatre in New York City. It was the first Broadway play written by Young and contains her song "When Love Is Young"; it was adapted as a silent movie in 1911. This play was followed by the 1907 comic play ''The Boys of Company "B"'' which premiered at the Lyceum Theatre and featured

Florence Nash Florence Nash (née Ryan) (October 2, 1888 — April 2, 1950) was an American actress and author. She was sister to theater and movie actor Mary Nash. Early life Florence was born to James H. and Ellen Frances (née McNamara) Ryan. She and he ...

in her Broadway debut. ''The Lancers'' was a 1907 musical with music and lyrics by

Cecilia Loftus Cecilia Loftus (born Marie Cecilia Loftus Brown; 22 October 1876 – 12 July 1943) was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian, and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Loftus was born in Glasgow, ...

and George Spink. ''Glorious Betsy'', a 1908 play that was remade as a silent film of the same name in 1928 directed by Alan Crosland, was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. The play ''The Lottery Man'' opened at Bijou Theatre in 1909 and ran for 200 performances. The film version from 1916 featured

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...

. ''Ragged Robin'', a musical set in Ireland in 1830, is based on a book by Young. It opened at Academy of Music in 1910 and ran for only 16 performances. MariettaVH2

''Naughty Marietta'' and later years

Young wrote book and lyrics to the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

'' Naughty Marietta'', composer Victor Herbert's greatest success. Produced by

Oscar Hammerstein Oscar Hammerstein may refer to: *Oscar Hammerstein I (1846–1919), cigar manufacturer, opera impresario and theatre builder *Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) w ...

, it opened at New York Theatre in 1910, ran for 136 performances and was frequently revived. A film version from 1935 was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

. Her play ''The Marriage Bond'' was adapted into a 1916 film of the same name. Young wrote the lyrics of "Kiss Waltz" and "Mother" in 1916, both of which were set to music by Sigmund Romberg. Further Broadway productions with contributions from Young include ''Barry of Ballymore'' (1911), ''Next'' (1911, a play), ''Macushla'' (1912, with music by

Ernest R. Ball Ernest Roland Ball (July 22, 1878 – May 3, 1927) was an American singer and songwriter, most famous for composing the music for the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in 1912. He was not himself Irish. Early life and education Born in Cl ...

), ''The Red Petticoat'' (1912, with music by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

), ''The Isle o' Dreams'' (1913, with music by Ernest R. Ball), ''The Girl and the Pennant'' (1913, a play), ''Shameen Dhu'' (1914, a play), ''Lady Luxury'' (1914, with music by William Schroeder), ''Captain Kidd, Jr''. (1916, 128 performances), ''Her Soldier Boy'' ( Astor Theatre 1916, with music by Emmerich Kalman, 198 performances), ''His Little Widows'' (1917, with music by William Schroeder), '' Maytime'' ( Shubert Theatre 1917, 492 performances), ''Sometime'' ( Shubert Theatre 1918, 283 performances), ''Little Simplicity'' (Astor Theatre, 1918, with music by Augustus Barratt), ''Little Old New York'' (

Plymouth Theatre Plymouth Theatre or Plymouth Theater may refer to: * Plymouth Theatre (Boston) * Plymouth Theatre (Worcester) * Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City, formerly the Plymouth Theatre * H Street Playhouse The H Street Playhouse was a black box ...

1920, a play, 308 performances), '' The Dream Girl'' ( Ambassador Theatre 1924, with music by Victor Herbert, 117 performances) and ''Cock O' the Roost'' (1924, a play). She also wrote the screenplay for the 1919 Bessie Love film ''

The Little Boss ''The Little Boss'' is a 1919 American silent romantic comedy film directed by David Smith and produced by Vitagraph Studios. The story and screenplay were by Rida Johnson Young, and it starred Bessie Love and Wallace MacDonald. The film is pr ...

''."Bessie Love at the Pav."
''

The Register ''The Register'' is a British technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee, John Lettice and Ross Alderson. The online newspaper's masthead sublogo is "''Biting the hand that feeds IT''." Their primary focus is information tec ...

'', Adelaide, South Australia, July 6, 1920, p. 8, accessed January 11, 2015 In 1926, at the age of 51, Young died in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, after a long struggle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

References

External links

* *
Interview of Young with photograph
'' The Sun'', May 6, 1917
Rida Johnson Young recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Rida Johnson 1869 births 1926 deaths Songwriters from Maryland American lyricists American musical theatre librettists Writers from Baltimore American stage actresses Actresses from Baltimore American women dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers