Edward Sheldon
Encyclopedia
Edward Brewster Sheldon (Chicago, Illinois, February 4, 1886 – April 1, 1946, New York City
) was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell (1908) and Romance (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo
.
After becoming ill at age 29 with crippling rheumatoid arthritis
, which eventually claimed his sight (around 1930), Sheldon became a source of emotional and creative support for his many friends, including such luminaries of the literary and theatrical world as Minnie Maddern Fiske
(he wrote Salvation Nell for her), Julia Marlowe
, John Barrymore
, Thornton Wilder
, Alexander Woollcott
, Anne Morrow Lindbergh
, Ruth Gordon
, Helen Hayes
and many others.
In May 1915 Sheldon narrowly missed sailing on the Lusitania
s infamous last voyage. He had been asked by theater impresario Charles Frohman
to accompany him to England. A Harvard classmate of Sheldon's was getting married on May 11 and asked Sheldon to be best man. Sheldon then declined Frohman's offer.
A 1936 lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
for copyright infringement claimed that the script MGM used for the 1932
motion picture Letty Lynton
plagiarized material from the play Dishonored Lady by Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes
. The film is still unavailable today because of this lawsuit.
His life is detailed in The Man Who Lived Twice by Eric Wollencott Barnes
. In this biography Barnes states that Sheldon was in love all his adult life with Doris Keane
, the actress who starred in Romance in 1913.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell (1908) and Romance (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
.
After becoming ill at age 29 with crippling rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
, which eventually claimed his sight (around 1930), Sheldon became a source of emotional and creative support for his many friends, including such luminaries of the literary and theatrical world as Minnie Maddern Fiske
Mrs. Fiske
Minnie Maddern Fiske , born as Marie Augusta Davey, but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom...
(he wrote Salvation Nell for her), Julia Marlowe
Julia Marlowe
Julia Marlowe was an English-born American actress known for her interpretations of William Shakespeare.-Life and career:...
, John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
, Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
, Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Humphreys Woollcott was an American critic and commentator for The New Yorker magazine and a member of the Algonquin Round Table....
, Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Morrow Lindbergh was an American author, aviator, and the spouse of fellow aviator Charles Lindbergh.She was an acclaimed author whose books and articles spanned the genres of poetry to non-fiction, touching upon topics as diverse as youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and...
, Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
, Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
and many others.
In May 1915 Sheldon narrowly missed sailing on the Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
s infamous last voyage. He had been asked by theater impresario Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....
to accompany him to England. A Harvard classmate of Sheldon's was getting married on May 11 and asked Sheldon to be best man. Sheldon then declined Frohman's offer.
A 1936 lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
for copyright infringement claimed that the script MGM used for the 1932
1932 in film
-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
motion picture Letty Lynton
Letty Lynton
Letty Lynton is a 1932 MGM drama film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery and Nils Asther. The film was directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes. Crawford plays the title character, in a tale of love and blackmail.The film has...
plagiarized material from the play Dishonored Lady by Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes
Margaret Ayer Barnes
Margaret Ayer Barnes was an American playwright, novelist, and short-story writer....
. The film is still unavailable today because of this lawsuit.
His life is detailed in The Man Who Lived Twice by Eric Wollencott Barnes
Eric Wollencott Barnes
Eric Wollencott Barnes was an American educator, diplomat, actor, and author.-Education:...
. In this biography Barnes states that Sheldon was in love all his adult life with Doris Keane
Doris Keane
Doris Keane was an American actress.She was born in the USA but educated largely in Europe.Her first professional role was in Whitewashing Julia in 1903. This was a small role but she went on to play leading roles in The Happy Marriage in 1909 and The Lights o' London in 1911.In 1913, she played...
, the actress who starred in Romance in 1913.
Works
- Salvation Nell (1908), made into the 1915, 1921, and 1931Salvation NellSalvation Nell is a 1931 film drama produced and directed by James Cruze and distributed by Tiffany Films, a company then on the brink of ceasing operations. It is based on Edward Sheldon's 1908 Broadway play which starred Minnie Maddern Fiske. Two silent versions were produced ie, in 1915 with...
motion pictures of the same name - The Nigger (1909), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name (aka The New Governor) produced by William FoxWilliam Fox (producer)William Fox born Fried Vilmos was a pioneering Hungarian American motion picture executive who founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915 and the Fox West Coast Theatres chain in the 1920s...
- The Boss (1911), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same nameThe Boss (1915 film)The Boss is a 1915 silent film produced by William A. Brady and released through his World Film Company. The film is based on a 1911 play by Edward Sheldon called The Boss. On stage it starred Holbrook Blinn and Emily Stevens...
- The High Road (1912), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name
- Romance (1913), notable for its London run of 1,049 performances. Made into a 1920 silent filmRomance (1920 film)Romance is a 1920 American silent film directed by Chester Withey and released through United Artists. The film is based on the 1913 play Romance by Edward Sheldon and stars Doris Keane, the actress who created the role in the play. This was Miss Keane's only motion picture. D.W...
by United ArtistsUnited ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
starring Doris Keane, the actress from the play. Also made into a 1930 motion pictureRomance (1930 film)Romance is a 1930 film which tells the story of a bishop sharing a cautionary tale with a young man, who is going against the wishes of his family, of the dangers of falling in love with "fallen women", by using a story of naivete from his past...
starring Greta GarboGreta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
. Produced in New York as a musical, My Romance, with music by Sigmund RombergSigmund RombergSigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
and book and lyrics by Rowland Leigh, in 1948. - The Song of Songs (1914), dramatization of the novel by Hermann SudermannHermann SudermannHermann Sudermann was a German dramatist and novelist.- Early career :He was born at Matzicken, a village just to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia , close to the Russian frontier...
, made into films in 1918 (The Song of SongsThe Song of Songs (1918 film)The Song of Songs is a 1918 silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount. It is based on a stage play version by Edward Sheldon of a novel by Hermann Sudermann, Das Hohelied. This picture was directed by Joseph Kaufman and stars...
), 1924 (Lily of the Dust), and in 1933 (The Song of SongsThe Song of Songs (1933 film)The Song of Songs is a romantic drama film starring Marlene Dietrich as a naive, German peasant who moves to Berlin and suffers much heartache. It was based on the 1908 novel Das Hohe Lied by Hermann Sudermann and the subsequent 1914 play, The Song of Songs by Edward Sheldon...
, starring Marlene DietrichMarlene DietrichMarlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Brian AherneBrian AherneBrian Aherne was a British actor of both stage and screen, who found success in Hollywood.-Early life and stage career:...
, and Lionel AtwillLionel AtwillLionel Atwill was an English stage and film actor born in Croydon, London, England.He studied architecture before his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre, London in 1904. He become a star in Broadway theatre by 1918, and made his screen debut in 1919. He acted on the stage in Australia but was most...
) - The Garden of Paradise (1914), from "The Little MermaidThe Little Mermaid"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
" by Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."... - The Jest (1919), adaptation from the Italian of Sem BenelliSem BenelliSem Benelli was an Italian playwright and librettist who provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re and L'incantesimo, and Umberto Giordano's La cena delle beffe. He was a native of Prato....
- The Czarina (1922), adaptation of the Hungarian play by Melchior LengyelMelchior LengyelMelchior Lengyel was a Hungarian writer, dramatist, and film screenwriter.-Biography:Lengyel was born Lebovics Menyhért in Balmazújváros, Hungary. He started his career as a journalist...
and Lajos BiróLajos BiróLajos Bíró was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. He was born in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary and eventually moved to the United Kingdom where he worked as a scenario chief for London Film Productions run by...
made into the 1924 silent Forbidden ParadiseForbidden ParadiseForbidden Paradise is a 1924 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by German film director Ernst Lubitsch, a recent immigrant to the United States. The film is based on a 1922 Broadway play, The Czarina, by Edward Sheldon...
with Pola NegriPola NegriPola Negri was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles from the 1910s through the 1940s during the Golden Era of Hollywood film. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became a great American star. She...
. - Bewitched (1924), with Sidney HowardSidney HowardSidney Coe Howard was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for Gone with the Wind.-Early life:...
- Lulu Belle (1926), with Charles MacArthurCharles MacArthurCharles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter.-Biography:Charles MacArthur was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. He early developed a passion for reading...
, starring Lenore UlricLenore UlricLenore Ulric was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films of the silent-film and early sound era. Her father, Franz Xavier Ulrich, was a United States Army hospital steward...
; made in 1948 into the motion picture of the same nameLulu Belle (film)Lulu Belle is a film released by Columbia Pictures starring Dorothy Lamour, George Montgomery, and Glenda Farrell.Directed by Leslie Fenton, the film was an adaption of a sensational 1920s hit play by Charles MacArthur and Edward Sheldon, about a mulatto songstress, a "man-trap" who bewitched...
, starring Dorothy LamourDorothy LamourDorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy... - Jenny (1929), with Margaret Ayer BarnesMargaret Ayer BarnesMargaret Ayer Barnes was an American playwright, novelist, and short-story writer....
- Dishonored Lady (1930), with Barnes, made into the 1947 motion picture of the same nameDishonored LadyDishonored Lady is a film starring Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe, John Loder, William Lundigan, and Natalie Schafer, directed by Robert Stevenson, and released by United Artists...
, starring Hedy LamarrHedy LamarrHedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
and directed by Robert StevensonRobert Stevenson (director)Robert Stevenson was an English film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society....
(alternate title Sins of Madeleine)
External links
- Harvard Magazine article, with portrait
- Correspondence with Edward Sheldon at Houghton Library, Harvard University