Mary Orr
Encyclopedia
Mary Caswell Orr was an American
actress and short story
author
whose "The Wisdom of Eve
," written in 1946, was the basis of the Academy Award-winning film All About Eve
. In private life, the Brooklyn
-born Orr used her married name, Mary Orr Denham.
In 1964, she and her husband, director-playwright
Reginald Denham
, adapted The Wisdom of Eve into a play (of the same name), which was produced off-Broadway
in 1979. In 1970, a hit Broadway musical, Applause
, was based on All About Eve and gave a credit to Mary Orr for the original story. The musical, which starred Lauren Bacall
and Penny Fuller
, was broadcast on CBS
in 1973.
In addition to Applause, Mary Orr and Reginald Denham had four plays that opened on Broadway. Their first, Wallflower 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 appearances in 1953. Alone or with her husband, Orr wrote five books and forty television scripts.
While Mary Orr did not receive screen credit for her contribution to All About Eve (she had sold the story to Twentieth Century Fox for $5000), she did receive a Screen Actors Guild
award for an original story, The Wisdom of Eve.
A sequel to All About Eve, More About Eve, made its appearance in Cosmopolitan
in 1951.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
whose "The Wisdom of Eve
The Wisdom of Eve
The Wisdom of Eve is a short story by Mary Orr. The story formed the basis for the Academy Award winning film All About Eve. The nine-page story first appeared in Cosmopolitan in May, 1946. The story was loosely based upon a woman who had been the secretary of Viennese actress Elisabeth Bergner....
," written in 1946, was the basis of the Academy Award-winning film All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
. In private life, the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
-born Orr used her married name, Mary Orr Denham.
In 1964, she and her husband, director-playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Reginald Denham
Reginald Denham
Reginald Denham was an English writer, theater and film director, actor and film producer.Denham was born in London, England in 1894....
, adapted The Wisdom of Eve into a play (of the same name), which was produced off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 1979. In 1970, a hit Broadway musical, Applause
Applause (musical)
Applause is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Lauren Bacall won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical....
, was based on All About Eve and gave a credit to Mary Orr for the original story. The musical, which starred Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
and Penny Fuller
Penny Fuller
Penny Fuller is an American actress.Born in Durham, North Carolina, Fuller attended Northwestern University in Illinois. She then went to New York City to make a name for herself on Broadway...
, was broadcast on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1973.
In addition to Applause, Mary Orr and Reginald Denham had four plays that opened on Broadway. Their first, Wallflower 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 appearances in 1953. Alone or with her husband, Orr wrote five books and forty television scripts.
While Mary Orr did not receive screen credit for her contribution to All About Eve (she had sold the story to Twentieth Century Fox for $5000), she did receive a Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
award for an original story, The Wisdom of Eve.
A sequel to All About Eve, More About Eve, made its appearance in Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
in 1951.