''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

. The play is the first drama to win both the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

and the

New York Drama Critics Circle Award The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...

. The play opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1939.

Characters

;Main characters * Joe, a loafer with money and a good heart * Tom, his admirer, disciple, errand boy, stooge and friend * Kitty Duval, a young streetwalker who longs for a better life * Nick, owner of Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace * Arab, an Eastern philosopher and harmonica-player * Kit Carson, a teller of tall tales who looks like an old Indian-fighter * McCarthy, an intelligent and well-read longshoreman * Krupp, his boyhood friend, a waterfront cop who hates his job but doesn't know what else to do instead * Harry, a natural born hoofer who wants to make people laugh but can't * Wesley, a young colored man who plays a mean and melancholy boogie-woogie piano * Willie, a marble-game maniac * Dudley, a young man in love * Elsie, a nurse, the one he loves * Lorene, an unattractive woman * Mary L., an unhappy woman of quality and great beauty * Blick, a heel ;Minor characters * A Newsboy * A Drunkard * Nick's Ma * Sailor * Killer, a streetwalker * Killer's sidekick * Society Gentleman * Society Lady * Cops

Plot

The play is set in Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace, a run down dive bar in San Francisco. Much of the action of the play centers around Joe, a young loafer with money who encourages each of the bar's patrons in their eccentricities. Joe helps out a would-be dancer, Harry, and sets up his flunky, Tom, with a prostitute, Kitty Duval. The bar is frequented by a number of colorful characters, including a frenetic young man in love, an old man who looks like Kit Carson, and an affluent society couple. Nick's saloon is based on the café operated by Izzy Gomez in San Francisco, which Saroyan frequented.

Productions

The play was produced by the

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the W ...

. It premiered on

at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance ...

on October 25, 1939, closed on January 27, 1940, and re-opened at the Guild Theatre on January 29, 1940 to April 6, 1940 and September 23, 1940 to October 19, 1940, for 249 performances."'The Time of Your Life' 1939"
playbillvault.com, accessed December 22, 2015 Direction was by

Eddie Dowling Eddie Dowling (born Joseph Nelson Goucher; December 11, 1889Date and year of birth as per baptismal records of Precious Blood church, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where Dowling was christened — February 18, 1976) was an American actor, director, ...

, who also starred as Joe, and William Saroyan. The cast featured

Julie Haydon Julie Haydon (born Donella Donaldson, June 10, 1910 – December 24, 1994) was an American Broadway, film and television actress who received second billing as the female lead in the Ben Hecht–Charles MacArthur 1935 film vehicle for Noël ...

(Kitty Duval),

Celeste Holm Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in ''Come to th ...

(Mary L.), Charles De Sheim (Nick), and

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

(Harry). ''The Time of Your Life'' has been revived three times on Broadway: in 1940 with Dowling and Saroyan directing again, in 1969 directed by

John Hirsch John Stephen Hirsch, OC (; May 1, 1930 – August 1, 1989) was a Hungarian-Canadian theatre director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary to József and Ilona Hirsch, both of whom were murdered in the Holocaust along with his younger brother I ...

and in 1975 directed by Jack O'Brien. The play was revived on March 17, 1972 at the

Huntington Hartford Theater Huntington may refer to: Places Canada * Huntington, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Huntington, New Zealand a suburb in Hamilton, New Zealand United Kingdom * Huntington, Cheshire, England * Huntington, East Lothian, Scotland * Huntington, ...

in Los Angeles where

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), ''Close Encounters of the T ...

, Ron Thompson,

Gloria Grahame Gloria Grahame Hallward (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in ''It's a Wond ...

Strother Martin Strother Douglas Martin Jr. (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Among Martin's memorable pe ...

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 1997 ...

Richard X. Slattery Richard Xavier Slattery (June 26, 1925 – January 27, 1997) was an American character actor in film, theater and television. Slattery appeared in such films as '' A Distant Trumpet'', '' The Boston Strangler'', '' Walking Tall'', '' The No Merc ...

and

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning ab ...

were among the cast with

Edwin Sherin Edwin Sherin (January 15, 1930 – May 4, 2017) was an American director and producer. He is best known as the director and executive producer of the NBC drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1991–2005). Early life Sherin was ...

directing.

Adaptations

The play was adapted for film in 1948 with

H. C. Potter Henry Codman Potter (sometimes II or Jr.; November 13, 1904 – August 31, 1977) was an American theatrical producer and director as well as movie director. Biography H.C. Potter was born in New York City, the grandson of the Right Rev. Henry C ...

directing

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

as Joe and his sister,

Jeanne Cagney Jeanne Carolyn Cagney (March 25, 1919 – December 7, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Early years Born in New York City, Cagney and her four older brothers were raised by her widowed mother Carolyn Elizabeth Cagn ...

as Kitty Duval. In 1958 an adaptation by A.J. Russell was presented in a live television broadcast directed by Tom Donovan with stars

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

Jack Klugman Jack Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He began his career in 1950 and started television and film work with roles in ''12 Angry Men'' (1957) and '' Cry Terror!'' (1958). D ...

, and

Dick York Richard Allen York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actor. He was the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom ''Bewitched''. He played teacher Bertram Cates in the ...

for the ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...

'' series.

Awards and nominations

;Awards * 1939 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play * 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Time of Your Life 1939 plays Broadway plays New York Drama Critics' Circle Award winners Off-Broadway plays Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning works Plays by William Saroyan San Francisco in fiction Plays set in California American plays adapted into films