Ward Morehouse
Encyclopedia
Ward Morehouse was an American theater critic, newspaper columnist
, playwright
, and author.
, Ward Morehouse first worked as a reporter for The Savannah Press and The Atlanta Journal. He arrived in New York City
in 1919 and wrote for The New York Tribune
, and The Herald Tribune
. In 1926, he began writing the Broadway After Dark column for the New York Sun
. He remained at the Sun for 25 years where he was also a drama critic and roving correspondent. When the Sun stopped publishing in 1950, Morehouse continued writing "Broadway After Dark" until his death, first at the New York World-Telegram and Sun
, then for other papers and the General Features Syndicate.
Morehouse, who was best known for his dynamic interviews with theater celebrities, organized his own theater company when he was just a teen-ager. As an adult he wrote three plays of his own: "Miss Quis", which ran for 37 performances at the Henry Miller Theatre in 1937; "Gentlemen of the Press" (1928) which ran for 128 performances and was made into a film in 1929; and "U.S. 90", from 1941.
In the early 1930's Morehouse worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter
for the films "Central Park" (1932), "Big City Blues" (1932) (both starring Joan Blondell
), and "It Happened in New York" (1935).
In 1932 Morehouse married the New York theatrical producer Jean Dalrymple
. The marriage ended in divorce five years later. .
Morehouse was a world traveler who drove across the United States over 23 times and visited 80 foreign countries in search of stories and interviews with such personalities as Sergeant Alvin York
, Eugene O'Neill
, Christopher Fry
, H. L. Mencken
, "Alfalfa Bill" Murray
, and Shoeless Joe Jackson
. Morehouse stayed in so many hotels that he was quoted as saying his epitaph
should read "room service, please."
During World War II
, Morehouse travelled on a US Navy destroyer, and went to London
and Paris
to write columns called "Atlantic After Dark","London After Dark", and "Paris After Dark". The stories he wrote in 1946, called "Report on America", received an award from the Society of the Silurians, the prestigious journalism organization.
Known to appreciate a good meal and a good drink, his favorite interview location was the 21 Club
in New York. The slightly overweight Morehouse was one of several newspapermen who took lunch regularly at Sardi's
. The lunch group, who referred to themselves as "The Cheese Club", included Walter Winchell
. In 1949, Time Magazine referred to Morehouse as "the New York Sun's pudgy, pungent drama critic and columnist."
Morehouse was married four times and had two children, a daughter, and a son by one, Broadway actress Joan Marlowe. Ward Morehouse III, also became a drama critic and writer. Like his father Morehouse he tried his hand at playwriting, co-writing a play entitled "If It was Easy".
Ward Morehouse died in New York City at the age of 67, and is buried in Statesboro, Georgia
.
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, 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...
, and author.
Biography
Born in Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, Ward Morehouse first worked as a reporter for The Savannah Press and The Atlanta Journal. He arrived in New York City
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...
in 1919 and wrote for The New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
, and The Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
. In 1926, he began writing the Broadway After Dark column for the New York Sun
New York Sun (historical)
The Sun was a New York newspaper that was published from 1833 until 1950. It was considered a serious paper, like the city's two more successful broadsheets, The New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune...
. He remained at the Sun for 25 years where he was also a drama critic and roving correspondent. When the Sun stopped publishing in 1950, Morehouse continued writing "Broadway After Dark" until his death, first at the New York World-Telegram and Sun
New York World-Telegram
The New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
, then for other papers and the General Features Syndicate.
Morehouse, who was best known for his dynamic interviews with theater celebrities, organized his own theater company when he was just a teen-ager. As an adult he wrote three plays of his own: "Miss Quis", which ran for 37 performances at the Henry Miller Theatre in 1937; "Gentlemen of the Press" (1928) which ran for 128 performances and was made into a film in 1929; and "U.S. 90", from 1941.
In the early 1930's Morehouse worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
for the films "Central Park" (1932), "Big City Blues" (1932) (both starring Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
), and "It Happened in New York" (1935).
In 1932 Morehouse married the New York theatrical producer Jean Dalrymple
Jean Dalrymple
Jean Dalrymple was an American theater producer, manager, publicist, author and playwright who was instrumental in the founding of New York City Center and is best known for her productions there.-Biography:...
. The marriage ended in divorce five years later. .
Morehouse was a world traveler who drove across the United States over 23 times and visited 80 foreign countries in search of stories and interviews with such personalities as Sergeant Alvin York
Alvin York
Alvin Cullum York was one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others...
, Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
, Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
, H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
, "Alfalfa Bill" Murray
William H. Murray
William Henry Davis "Alfalfa Bill" Murray was an American teacher, lawyer, and politician who became active in Oklahoma before statehood as legal adviser to Governor Douglas H. Johnston of the Chickasaw Nation...
, and Shoeless Joe Jackson
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson , nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century...
. Morehouse stayed in so many hotels that he was quoted as saying his epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
should read "room service, please."
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Morehouse travelled on a US Navy destroyer, and went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to write columns called "Atlantic After Dark","London After Dark", and "Paris After Dark". The stories he wrote in 1946, called "Report on America", received an award from the Society of the Silurians, the prestigious journalism organization.
Known to appreciate a good meal and a good drink, his favorite interview location was the 21 Club
21 Club
The 21 Club, often simply 21, is a restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy, located at 21 West 52nd Street in New York City.-Environment:...
in New York. The slightly overweight Morehouse was one of several newspapermen who took lunch regularly at Sardi's
Sardi's
Sardi's is a restaurant in New York City's theater district at 234 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Known for the hundreds of caricatures of show-business celebrities that adorn its walls, Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927....
. The lunch group, who referred to themselves as "The Cheese Club", included Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
. In 1949, Time Magazine referred to Morehouse as "the New York Sun's pudgy, pungent drama critic and columnist."
Morehouse was married four times and had two children, a daughter, and a son by one, Broadway actress Joan Marlowe. Ward Morehouse III, also became a drama critic and writer. Like his father Morehouse he tried his hand at playwriting, co-writing a play entitled "If It was Easy".
Ward Morehouse died in New York City at the age of 67, and is buried in Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro is a city in southeast Georgia, United States, and is the county seat and most populous city of Bulloch County. Statesboro has a population of 28,422 and the Statesboro, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 70,217...
.
Works
- ... Forty-five Minutes Past Eight (The Dial Press, 1939)
- American Reveille: The United States at War (Putnam, 1942)
- George M. Cohan, Prince of the American Theater (J. B. Lippincott CompanyJ. B. Lippincott CompanyJ. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott.Formed by descendants of the Religious Society of Friends, Joshua Lippincott's company began selling a line of Bibles, prayer books and other religious works before...
, 1943) - Matinee Tomorrow: Fifty Years of Our Theater (Whittlesey House, 1949)
- Just the Other Day: From Yellow Pines to Broadway (McGraw-Hill, 1953)