Mary Caswell Orr (December 21, 1910 – September 22, 2006) was an American actress and author whose

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

"The Wisdom of Eve", published in the May 1946 issue of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', was the basis of the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning film ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit ...

'' (1950). In private life, Orr used her married name, Mary Orr Denham.

Early life

Orr was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She and her family relocated to

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes an ...

when she was a girl. She studied at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Career

According to Orr’s obituary in the ''New York Times'', "The Wisdom of Eve" was loosely based upon an unnamed woman who had been the secretary of

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * ...

actress

Elisabeth Bergner Elisabeth Bergner (22 August 1897 – 12 May 1986) was an Austrian-British actress. Primarily a stage actress, her career flourished in Berlin and Paris before she moved to London to work in films. Her signature role was Gemma Jones in '' Esca ...

. Orr wrote a radio adaptation that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1949, and that led to the movie being made. While she did not receive screen credit for ''All About Eve'' (she had sold the story to

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

for $5,000), she did receive a

Screen Writers Guild The Screen Writers Guild was an organization of Hollywood screenplay authors, formed as a union in 1933. In 1954, it became two different organizations: Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East. Founding Screenwrite ...

award for her original story. An alternative hypothesis to the Ruth Hirsch (later known as Martina Lawrence)- Elizabeth Bergner origin was the rivalry between

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

and

Lizabeth Scott Lizabeth Virginia Scott (born Emma Matzo; September 29, 1921 – January 31, 2015) was an American actress, singer and model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, known for her "smoky voice" and being "the most beautiful face of film noir durin ...

(her understudy) during the production of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

's ''

The Skin of Our Teeth ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, ...

''. Broadway legend had it that Bankhead was being victimized by Scott, who was, supposedly, the real-life Eve Harrington. In 1964, Orr and her husband, director-

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 ...

Reginald Denham Reginald Denham (10 January 1894 – 4 February 1983) was an English writer, theatre and film director, actor and film producer. Biography Reginald H. F. Denham was born in London, England, in 1894. He spent a good part of his career dire ...

, adapted the short story into a play of the same name, which was produced

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

in 1979. In 1970, a hit Broadway musical, ''

Applause Applause ( Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performanc ...

'', was based on ''All About Eve'' and gave a credit to Mary Orr for the original story. She wrote a sequel to "The Wisdom of Eve" titled "More About Eve," which was published in ''Cosmopolitan'' in July 1951. In addition to ''Applause'', Mary Orr and Reginald Denham had four plays that opened on Broadway. Their first and most successful, ''

Wallflower ''Erysimum'', or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. The genus ''Cheiranthus'' is sometimes included here in whole o ...

'', ran for 192 performances in 1944. ''Round Trip'' was presented in 1945, while '' Dark Hammock'' started its performances in 1946. The fourth, ''Be Your Age'', made its Broadway appearance in 1953. She also acted in Broadway plays, including two of her own: ''Wallflower'' and ''Dark Hammock''. The film version of ''

'' was released in 1948. Alone or with her husband, Orr wrote five books and forty television scripts.

Death

Orr died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

in Manhattan in 2006, aged 95. She was predeceased by her husband, who died in 1983.

Works

* ''Diamonds in the Sky'' (1957) * ''A Place to Meet'' (1961) * ''The Tejera Secrets'' (1974) * ''Rich Girl, Poor Girl'' (1975) * ''Lucky Star'' (1986)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Mary 1910 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American stage actresses Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Novelists from New York (state) People from Brooklyn Syracuse University alumni 21st-century American women