Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur was an influential American playwright and screenwriter born on November 5, 1895, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He began his career in journalism before transitioning to theater, where he became a prominent member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group known for its sharp wit and literary achievements. MacArthur co-created notable works such as "The Front Page" and "Twentieth Century" alongside fellow writer Ben Hecht, both of which are credited with shaping American comedy. He ventured into Hollywood, writing and adapting screenplays for films like "His Girl Friday" and "Wuthering Heights," earning an Academy Award for his original story in "The Scoundrel."
MacArthur served in the military during World War I and later held a lieutenant colonel rank in World War II, contributing to the Chemical Warfare Service. He was married to actress Helen Hayes, and their daughter tragically passed away from polio. MacArthur's legacy includes the Charles MacArthur Center for Development of American Theatre at Florida State University, and his personal papers are housed at the University of Wisconsin. He passed away on April 21, 1956, leaving behind a significant impact on American theater and film.
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Charles MacArthur
Playwright
- Born: November 5, 1895
- Birthplace: Scranton, Pennsyvlania
- Died: April 21, 1956
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Charles MacArthur was born on November 5, 1895, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to William Telfer MacArthur, a former British army officer turned evangelist, and Georgianna Welsted MacArthur. He attended Wilson Memorial Academy, a school for missionaries in Nyack, New York. When he was seventeen, he fled his stern father to work for The Oak Leaves, a newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois, owned by two of his older brothers and run by an older sister. Two years later, MacArthur went to Chicago and worked as a reporter for the City Press, the Chicago Herald- Examiner, and the Chicago Tribune. He remained in Chicago, except for an army artillery stint during World War I, until 1924, when he left to write for the American newspaper in New York City.
MacArthur’s military experiences, which included a shrapnel wound, are recounted in his first book, A Bug’s- Eye View of the War. He was married to reporter Carol Frink from 1920 to 1926. MacArthur became a member of the Algonquin Round Table, the group of writers and actors who gathered at Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel and were renowned for their wit. His first play, Lulu Belle, cowritten with Edward Sheldon, was staged in New York in 1926. MacArthur soon abandoned journalism for the stage and began a lengthy collaboration with Ben Hecht. Their best-known plays, The Front Page, inspired by both writers’ newspaper backgrounds, and Twentieth Century, have often been credited with creating a distinctively American style of comedy.
MacArthur and Hecht went to Hollywood in 1930 and collaborated on several screenplays, including Twentieth Century, an adaptation of their play,Gunga Din, Wuthering Heights, and His Girl Friday, based on The Front Page. MacArthur and Hecht codirected four independent films and won an Academy Award for best original story for one of these, The Scoundrel. By himself, MacArthur wrote The Sin of Madelon Claudet, for which his second wife, actress Helen Hayes, won an Oscar. MacArthur and Hayes were married on August 17, 1928. MacArthur’s only solo play, the political satire Johnny on a Spot, was not a success.
During World War II, MacArthur was assistant to the chief of the Chemical Warfare Service and served as a courier and military observer at battlefields in Asia and Europe, leaving the army as a lieutenant colonel. MacArthur was editor of Theatre Arts Magazine during 1948 and 1949. His and Hayes’s daughter, Mary, died of polio in 1949; James, their adopted son, became a well-known film and television actor. MacArthur died from chronic nephritis on April 21, 1956. The Charles MacArthur Center for Development of American Theatre is located at Florida State University. His papers are at the Wisconsin Center for Theatre Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Hecht wrote a biography of his friend, Charlie: The Improbable Life and Times of Charles MacArthur.