Owen Davis

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Owen Davis (born January 29, 1874 in Portland , Maine , † October 14, 1956 in New York City ) was an American playwright who received the Pulitzer Prize for Theater in 1923 for his play Icebound .

biography

Davis began writing plays at the beginning of World War I and made his writing debut in 1914 with The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England . Several other dramas and scenarios appeared in quick succession, such as Lola and The Marked Woman (1914), Hearts in Exile , The Woman Next Door , The Family Cupboard , The Green Cloak , The Sentimental Lady , The Gambler of the West (all 1915) , Driftwood and Big Jim Garrity (1916), Mile-a-Minute Kendall (1918), Sinners (1920), Marry the Poor Girl (1921) and Blow Your Own Horn (1923).

His most important stage work Icebound (1923) was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize . In 1923 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

His other dramas include Ethan Frome (1926), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Edith Wharton , and The Detour (1931). In 1932 an adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's novel "The Good Earth" followed together with his second son Donald Davis . The play premiered on October 18, 1933 in New York City with Claude Rains and Alla Nazimova in the lead roles .

On the other hand, his play The Nervous Wreck by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn was featured in the musical Whoopee! processed and premiered on December 4, 1928 at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York. In 1930, the musical by Thornton Freeland was filmed .

His older son was the actor Owen Davis junior , who played Peter in the film In the West Nothing New (1930) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members: Owen Davis. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed February 25, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Davis, Owen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American playwright
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Portland , Maine
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 1956
Place of death New York City