Ruth McKenney
Encyclopedia
Ruth McKenney was an American author and journalist, best remembered for My Sister Eileen
, a memoir of her experiences growing up in Ohio and moving to Greenwich Village
with her sister Eileen McKenney
. This was later adapted as the musical Wonderful Town
by Leonard Bernstein
.
. In 1919 her family moved to East Cleveland, Ohio
, where she lived until adulthood. She attended East Cleveland Evangelical Church, though she was a young skeptic about such matters.
She attended East Cleveland and then Shaw High School, where she was two grades beyond her age. Among other subjects, she studied French. She was known as something of a tomboy and was the only girl to play on the East Cleveland boys baseball team (she played first base). She also joined the Northern Ohio Debating League. She described herself as "homely as a mud fence", especially compared to her sister Eileen, though she likely exaggerated for comic effect. She also stuttered. She attempted to commit suicide once during high school by hanging herself but was rescued by Eileen.
At the age of 14, she ran away from home, worked as a printer's devil
, and joined the International Typographical Union
. At 16, she got a job as a waitress (along with Eileen) in the Harvey Tea Room
at the Cleveland Union Station.
She attended Ohio State University
(1928-31), majoring in journalism, but did not graduate. Early in her college career, she and her grandmother ran a small business writing homework papers for football players, wrestlers, and other students. She also wrote for the student newspaper, the Ohio State Lantern; and was the campus correspondent for the Columbus Dispatch.
.
In 1934, McKenney moved to New Jersey, where she joined the staff of the Newark Ledger. From there, she and Eileen moved to New York City, specifically a moldy, one-room basement apartment
above the Christopher Street
subway station at 14 Gay Street in Greenwich Village for which she paid $45 a month. The apartment was burgled within the first week they lived there. They lived there for six months. This place would become the inspiration for a series of stories in The New Yorker
, later republished in the book My Sister Eileen.
In 1939 McKenney published Industrial Valley, a then-controversial book about the Akron rubber strike (1932-36). She considered it her best work. Her blockbuster, best-selling novel, Jake Home (1943), chronicled the struggles of some common Americans between 1900 and 1930.
In 1940, Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov
adapted My Sister Eileen
for Broadway
, focusing mostly on the last two chapters of the book detailing Ruth and Eileen's experiences in New York City. (The book mostly concerns their childhood in East Cleveland.) Four days after the death of the Eileen
of the title, it opened on December 26, 1940, and ran until January 16, 1943. In 1942, Alexander Hall
directed a movie adaptation starring Rosalind Russell
as Ruth.
In the early 1950s, Fields and Chodorov adapted their play into the musical Wonderful Town
, with lyrics by Betty Comden
and Adolph Green
and music by Leonard Bernstein
, and starring Rosalind Russell and Edie Adams
. It opened on Broadway on February 25, 1953, and ran for 559 performances until July 3, 1954. It has been periodically revived, both on Broadway and off. In 1955, Richard Quine
directed a musical adaptation of the 1942 movie, again under the title My Sister Eileen starring Betty Garrett
, Janet Leigh
, and Jack Lemmon
. This musical had original song material; none of the Wonderful Town music was incorporated in this movie version.
In 1956, John Boruff adapted her novel The Loud Red Patrick for Broadway. It ran for 93 performances from October 3 to December 22 and soon became a favorite of regional theaters. In 1960-61, My Sister Eileen was adapted as a television series that ran for 26 episodes.
s, although they were purged from the Party in 1946. They had a son, Paul, and a daughter, Eileen, named in memory of Ruth's sister.
In 1939, Ruth's sister Eileen
married novelist Nathanael West
. Eileen was just 26 when she died in a California automobile accident on December 22, 1940, two years after My Sister Eileen was published and four days before its first stage version opened on Broadway. West, who had run a Stop sign, died in the same accident.
On November 18, 1955, McKenney's 44th birthday, her husband committed suicide in London. After this, Ruth McKenney returned to New York City, but she stopped writing. She died in New York City on July 25, 1972, aged 60.
and non-fiction
books. They are:
She wrote numerous short pieces for a variety of publications, including Harper's, The New Yorker
, the New York Post
, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
, Collier's
, Argosy
, Woman's Journal
, Encore, The Saturday Evening Post
, Holiday Magazine and New Masses. She also wrote screenplays, including Margie with her husband and F. Hugh Herbert
.
My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
, a memoir of her experiences growing up in Ohio and moving to Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
with her sister Eileen McKenney
Eileen McKenney
Eileen McKenney was the sister of the writer Ruth McKenney and the inspiration for Ruth's book My Sister Eileen . It was adapted as a Broadway play in 1940, filmed in 1942 and 1955 by Columbia Pictures, and adapted into the Broadway musical Wonderful Town...
. This was later adapted as the musical Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...
by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
.
Early life
McKenney was born in Mishawaka, IndianaMishawaka, Indiana
Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River and a Twin city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 48,252 as of the 2010 Census...
. In 1919 her family moved to East Cleveland, Ohio
East Cleveland, Ohio
East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is the first suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 17,843 at the 2010 census....
, where she lived until adulthood. She attended East Cleveland Evangelical Church, though she was a young skeptic about such matters.
She attended East Cleveland and then Shaw High School, where she was two grades beyond her age. Among other subjects, she studied French. She was known as something of a tomboy and was the only girl to play on the East Cleveland boys baseball team (she played first base). She also joined the Northern Ohio Debating League. She described herself as "homely as a mud fence", especially compared to her sister Eileen, though she likely exaggerated for comic effect. She also stuttered. She attempted to commit suicide once during high school by hanging herself but was rescued by Eileen.
At the age of 14, she ran away from home, worked as a printer's devil
Printer's devil
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type...
, and joined the International Typographical Union
International Typographical Union
The International Typographical Union was a labor union founded on May 3, 1852 in the United States as the National Typographical Union. In its 1869 convention in Albany, New York, the union—having organized members in Canada—changed its name to the International Typographical Union...
. At 16, she got a job as a waitress (along with Eileen) in the Harvey Tea Room
Harvey House
Harvey House may refer to:*One of many hotels of the Fred Harvey Company in the U.S. west, which include :*La Posada Hotel and Gardens, in Winslow, Arizona, a contributing property in NRHP-listed La Posada Historic District, in Navajo County...
at the Cleveland Union Station.
She attended Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
(1928-31), majoring in journalism, but did not graduate. Early in her college career, she and her grandmother ran a small business writing homework papers for football players, wrestlers, and other students. She also wrote for the student newspaper, the Ohio State Lantern; and was the campus correspondent for the Columbus Dispatch.
Career
While in college, McKenney worked part time for the Columbus Citizen. She also contributed to the International News Service. Following this, she became a full time reporter for the Akron Beacon JournalAkron Beacon Journal
The Akron Beacon Journal is a four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States, and published by Black Press Ltd.. It is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper places a strong emphasis on local news and business...
.
In 1934, McKenney moved to New Jersey, where she joined the staff of the Newark Ledger. From there, she and Eileen moved to New York City, specifically a moldy, one-room basement apartment
Basement apartment
A basement apartment is an apartment located below street level, underneath another structure—usually an apartment building, but possibly a house or a business. Rent in basement apartments is usually much lower than it is in above-ground units, due to a number of deficiencies common to basement...
above the Christopher Street
Christopher Street (Manhattan)
Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th St. to the west of its intersection with 6th Ave. The Stonewall Inn is located on Christopher Street, and, therefore, the street was at the center of New York's...
subway station at 14 Gay Street in Greenwich Village for which she paid $45 a month. The apartment was burgled within the first week they lived there. They lived there for six months. This place would become the inspiration for a series of stories in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, later republished in the book My Sister Eileen.
In 1939 McKenney published Industrial Valley, a then-controversial book about the Akron rubber strike (1932-36). She considered it her best work. Her blockbuster, best-selling novel, Jake Home (1943), chronicled the struggles of some common Americans between 1900 and 1930.
In 1940, Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov
Jerome Chodorov
Jerome Chodorov was an American playwright and librettist.-Biography:He was born in New York City, and entered journalism in the 1930s. He is best known for his 1940 play My Sister Eileen, its 1942 screen adaptation, and the musical Wonderful Town, which based on his play. Joseph A. Fields was...
adapted My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
for Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, focusing mostly on the last two chapters of the book detailing Ruth and Eileen's experiences in New York City. (The book mostly concerns their childhood in East Cleveland.) Four days after the death of the Eileen
Eileen McKenney
Eileen McKenney was the sister of the writer Ruth McKenney and the inspiration for Ruth's book My Sister Eileen . It was adapted as a Broadway play in 1940, filmed in 1942 and 1955 by Columbia Pictures, and adapted into the Broadway musical Wonderful Town...
of the title, it opened on December 26, 1940, and ran until January 16, 1943. In 1942, Alexander Hall
Alexander Hall
Alexander Hall was an American theatre actor and film director....
directed a movie adaptation starring Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
as Ruth.
In the early 1950s, Fields and Chodorov adapted their play into the musical Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...
, with lyrics by Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
and music by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, and starring Rosalind Russell and Edie Adams
Edie Adams
Edie Adams was an American singer, Broadway, television and film actress and comedienne. Adams, a Tony Award winner, "both embodied and winked at the stereotypes of fetching chanteuse and sexpot blonde." She was well-known for her impersonations of female stars on stage and television, most...
. It opened on Broadway on February 25, 1953, and ran for 559 performances until July 3, 1954. It has been periodically revived, both on Broadway and off. In 1955, Richard Quine
Richard Quine
Richard Quine was an American stage, film, and radio actor and film director.Quine was born in Detroit. He made his Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Very Warm for May in 1939 and appeared in My Sister Eileen the following year...
directed a musical adaptation of the 1942 movie, again under the title My Sister Eileen starring Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
, and Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
. This musical had original song material; none of the Wonderful Town music was incorporated in this movie version.
In 1956, John Boruff adapted her novel The Loud Red Patrick for Broadway. It ran for 93 performances from October 3 to December 22 and soon became a favorite of regional theaters. In 1960-61, My Sister Eileen was adapted as a television series that ran for 26 episodes.
Private life
In 1937, Ruth McKenney married fellow writer Richard Bransten (pen name Bruce Minton). McKenney and Bransten were both one-time CommunistCommunist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
s, although they were purged from the Party in 1946. They had a son, Paul, and a daughter, Eileen, named in memory of Ruth's sister.
In 1939, Ruth's sister Eileen
Eileen McKenney
Eileen McKenney was the sister of the writer Ruth McKenney and the inspiration for Ruth's book My Sister Eileen . It was adapted as a Broadway play in 1940, filmed in 1942 and 1955 by Columbia Pictures, and adapted into the Broadway musical Wonderful Town...
married novelist Nathanael West
Nathanael West
Nathanael West was a US author, screenwriter and satirist.- Early life :...
. Eileen was just 26 when she died in a California automobile accident on December 22, 1940, two years after My Sister Eileen was published and four days before its first stage version opened on Broadway. West, who had run a Stop sign, died in the same accident.
On November 18, 1955, McKenney's 44th birthday, her husband committed suicide in London. After this, Ruth McKenney returned to New York City, but she stopped writing. She died in New York City on July 25, 1972, aged 60.
Books and other works
McKenney authored ten fictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
and non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
books. They are:
- My Sister EileenMy Sister EileenMy Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
(1938) about her experiences growing up in Ohio and then moving to New York City - Industrial ValleyIndustrial ValleyIndustrial Valley is a neighborhood and manufacturing district located along the Cuyahoga River, south of downtown in Cleveland, Ohio. Roughly bounded by the river to the west and Northwest, Broadway Avenue and E.34th Street to the east, Orange Ave to the north and the now defunct Newburgh & South...
(1939) a novel about the Akron rubber strike from 1932-1936 - The McKenneys Carry On (1940) the sequel to My Sister Eileen
- Jake Home (1943)
- The Loud Red Patrick (1947) a novel about an Irish widower raising four daughters in Cleveland; based on her grandfather
- Love Story (1950) the story of her marriage to Richard Bransten
- Here's England, a Highly Informal Guide (1951) with husband Richard Bransten
- All About Eileen (1952) the second sequel to My Sister Eileen; a collection of previously published and new stories about her sister and herself
- Far, Far From Home (1954) a humorous account of her family's visit to France
- MirageMirageA mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French mirage, from the Latin mirare, meaning "to look at, to wonder at"...
(1956) a historical novel set in Napoleonic France and Egypt
She wrote numerous short pieces for a variety of publications, including Harper's, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is an American monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction...
, Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
, Woman's Journal
Woman's Journal
Woman's Journal was a women's rights periodical published from 1870-1931.Woman's Journal was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. The new paper incorporated Mary A...
, Encore, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, Holiday Magazine and New Masses. She also wrote screenplays, including Margie with her husband and F. Hugh Herbert
F. Hugh Herbert
Frederick Hugh Herbert was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, short story writer, and infrequent film director....
.