Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart was a prominent American screenwriter and playwright known for his significant contributions to Hollywood during the early to mid-20th century. Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1894, Stewart had a distinguished education, graduating from Yale University in 1916. He became part of the vibrant literary scene in New York, befriending notable figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edmund Wilson, and was a member of the famous Algonquin Round Table. Stewart transitioned to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he garnered acclaim for his film scripts, earning an Academy Award for his work on "Laughter" and contributing to other notable films like "The Philadelphia Story" and "Marie Antoinette."
However, his career faced a devastating setback during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s, leading to his blacklisting and rendering him unemployable in Hollywood. In response, he relocated to England, where he continued to write and eventually published his autobiography, "By a Stroke of Luck!" in 1975. Stewart's legacy encompasses not only his successful writing career but also the impact of political turmoil on artists during his time. His story reflects the complex interplay between creativity and sociopolitical challenges, making him a noteworthy figure in American cultural history.
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Subject Terms
Donald Ogden Stewart
Author
- Born: November 30, 1894
- Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
- Died: August 2, 1980
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Donald Ogden Stewart was one of the unfortunate Hollywood screen writers who, after a stellar career that included receiving one Academy Award and being nominated for another, was destroyed by the anti-Communist frenzy of the early 1950’s. He could no longer find work with the Hollywood studios that had profited handsomely from his film scripts, which numbered two dozen in 1950.
Stewart, born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, was the son of Gilbert Holland, a lawyer and judge, and his wife, Clara Landon Stewart. He received his secondary-school education at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1916. He met Edmund Wilson, editor of Vanity Fair, through his friendship with writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Stewart had become friends with Fitzgerald when, immediately after his Yale graduation, he got a job at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Fitzgerald was working on This Side of Paradise (1920).
When Fitzgerald left Minneapolis for New York, Stewart was not far behind. Wilson felt an immediate rapport with Stewart and asked him to write for Vanity Fair, which he did regularly from 1921 to 1929. He also invited Stewart to join the Algonquin Round Table, which met daily at the Algonquin Hotel and included Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Wilson, and many of New York’s greatest wits. Stewart did some acting on stage and also appeared in films that included Holiday (1928), Rebound (1928), and Not So Dumb (1930).
During his decade in New York, Stewart wrote A Parody Outline of History, a collection of humorous parodies on historical figures that sold well. His second such book, Perfect Behavior, was less successful, as was Aunt Polly’s Study of Mankind. His first play, Rebound: A Comedy in Three Acts, was first staged in 1928 and taken to Broadway two years later. He did the book for a musical, Fine and Dandy, that opened on Broadway in 1930.
In that year, Stewart was lured to Hollywood to write film scripts. In the depths of the Great Depression, Hollywood offered some of the best remuneration available to anyone who wrote reasonably well. Stewart’s first film, Laughter, received an Academy Award nomination, an auspicious beginning for a novice script writer. Laughter was followed by several collaborations and by increasingly mature scripts for motion pictures such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Prisoner of Zenda (1938), and Marie Antoinette (1938). In 1940, Stewart collaborated with Dalton Trumbo on Kitty Foyle, a splendid film that almost received an Academy Award nomination but lost to Stewart’s The Philadelphia Story, which went on to win the Oscar.
Three of Stewart’s plays were produced between 1947 and 1958, two in England. When he became unemployable in Hollywood after the McCarthy hearings, Stewart moved to England, where lived the remainder of his life. By a Stroke of Luck! An Autobiography was published in 1975.