Reuben Ship
Reuben Ship was a Canadian-born writer and playwright, born on October 18, 1915, in Montreal, Quebec. He grew up in a community that emphasized education and social responsibility, which shaped his later work. After graduating from McGill University in 1939, he became involved with the Young Men's-Young Women's Hebrew Association (YM-YWHA) Little Theater, producing antifascist plays. His career took him to the United States, where he worked as a writer for NBC's radio program, The Life of Riley, until his political affiliations led to his deportation during the Red Scare.
Following his return to Canada, Ship transitioned to the advertising industry while writing critically acclaimed radio plays for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), such as The Investigator, which critiqued McCarthyism. In 1956, he moved to England, where he found success in television writing but faced personal challenges, including a divorce. Ship's body of work is noted for its satirical examination of government and business hypocrisy, making significant contributions to comedic literature until his death on August 23, 1975.
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Subject Terms
Reuben Ship
- Born: October 18, 1915
- Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Died: August 23, 1975
- Place of death: England
Biography
Reuben Ship was born October 18, 1915, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Sam and Bella Davis Ship. He grew up in an immigrant community of Montreal that valued education and labor unions. These values instilled a sense of social responsibility in Ship from an early age. Ship attended McGill University in the 1930’s, where he was active in theater groups and graduated with a B.A. in 1939. Upon graduation, he joined the Young Men’s-Young Women’s Hebrew Association (YM-YWHA) Little Theater, which produced antifascist and left-oriented plays. Through his work with the YM-YWHA, he met his first wife, Ada Span, with whom he had three daughters.
Ship traveled to the United States with members of the YM- YWHA, and the troupe performed in several small venues before settling in New York City. Here, Ship’s talents were recognized by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The company hired him as a writer for its radio program, The Life of Riley. Although Ship gained some success through the program, his contract with NBC was not renewed when the show was produced for television.
After he lost his job, he was questioned by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). It was discovered that he had been named a communist by a coworker, and after a defiant testimonial in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), he was quickly deported back to Canada. Ship and his family relocated near Toronto, where he worked in the advertising industry to support them.
Ship continued to write for television and radio. He wrote comedies for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio that satirically depicted government and big businesses. He also wrote several radio plays that received critical acclaim, including The Night Before Christmas and The Man Who Liked Christmas, both of which deal with the hypocrisy of Christmas in North America.
Ship’s best-known and most respected radio play is The Investigator, which directly challenges those responsible for the Red Scare in the United States. In the play, the investigator, who bares an unmistakable likeness to U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, is killed in a plane crash and upon entering Heaven encounters souls he considers subversive, including John Milton, Socrates, and Voltaire. He immediately sets up a committee whose members, Torquemada and Cotton Mather, investigate suspicious souls. Those souls who are found guilty are condemned to Hell, where they unionize with other condemned souls, forcing the devil to complain to Heaven about their activities.
In 1956, the Ship family relocated to England, where Ship’s marriage to Ada quickly ended. He married television journalist Elaine Grand, and he began a successful career writing for various British television comedies, including My Wife’s Sister and The Greatest Man in the World. During this time, he also wrote two sardonic screenplays, There Was a Crooked Man and The Girl on the Boat.Ship died in England on August 23, 1975. Ship’s talent for defending the individual and pointing out the dangers and hypocrisy of government and big business through satire is his greatest contribution to literature.