Joseph Kesselring

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Otto Kesselring (born July 21, 1902 in New York City , New York , † November 5, 1967 in Kingston , New York ) was an American writer , playwright , actor and director .

Life

Joseph Kesselring was born on July 21, 1902 to parents of German descent in New York City. From 1922 to 1924 he was a music teacher at Bethel College in North Newton , Kansas , and then from 1925 to 1926 musical director and director of an amateur theater in Niagara Falls , New York. He then worked as an actor , author and director of various entertainment pieces and as a writer of short stories and poems .

From 1933 he finally earned his living as a freelance author and playwright. In that year Kesselring married the pianist Charlotte Elsheimer in New York .

1939 Kesselring wrote the play Arsenic and Old Lace ( Arsenic and Old Lace ), is the lovable of two old ladies who kill men without any sense of guilt a dozen. The piece turned out to be Kesselring's only success among his twelve pieces and brought him unexpected wealth. After the Broadway premiere on January 10, 1941, it ran there for three and a half years in front of a sold-out house every evening and was similarly successful in London . The Hollywood - film adaptation of the play by Frank Capra with Cary Grant , Priscilla Lane , Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre , which was released in 1944, proved to be still indestructible film classic. Repeatedly played on American and European stages, the piece developed into an evergreen of black humor.

The play was and is a great success in German-speaking countries too. In addition to the High German translation by Annemarie Artinger, there is also a Low German version by Konrad Hansen under the title Arsenik un ole Spitzen , an Alemannic dialect adaptation as Gift un Spitzehübli and a Swiss German dialect adaptation by Roger Thiriet under the title Freude .

Joseph Kesselring died on November 5, 1967 in Kingston, New York. His autobiography, written in verse, appeared posthumously in 1973.

In honor of Kesselring, the National Arts Club has been awarding the “Joseph Kesselring Prize”, donated by his widow Charlotte, to established and aspiring playwrights every year since 1980.

Works

Stage plays

  • Aggie Appleby Maker of Men , 1932 (filmed in 1933)
  • Cross Town , 1937
  • Arsenic and Old Lace. (A Comedy) , 1939 [in print: New York 1941] (German lace cap and arsenic or arsenic and lace cap ; made into a film in 1941 [published 1944])
  • Maggie MacGilligan , 1942
  • Jig, Lisp and Amble , 1943
  • Identically Yours , 1945
  • Solomon's Mother , 1946
  • Four Twelves are 48. A Comedy in Three Acts , New York 1951
  • Surgery Is Indicated , 1954
  • Accidental Angel , 1955
  • A Frog in His Pocket , 1958
  • Mother of That Wisdom. A Historical Play in Two Acts , [New York 1973]

Autobiography

  • My Life, Love, and Limericks. An Autobiography in Verse , New York 1973 ( ISBN 0-682-47659-5 )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kesselring, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kesselring, Joseph Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer, playwright, actor, and director
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH 5th November 1967
Place of death Kingston , New York