Owen Davis

Owen Davis ( born January 29, 1874 in Portland, Maine, † October 14, 1956 in New York City ) was an American playwright who for his play Icebound received the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Biography

Davis started at the beginning of World War I with the writing of plays and gave 1914 The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England his literary debut. In rapid succession several more dramas and scenarios such as Lola and The Marked Woman ( 1914), Hearts in Exile, The Woman Next Door, The Family Cupboard, The Green Cloak, The Sentimental Lady, The Gambler of the West (all 1915 ) published, driftwood and Big Jim Garrity (1916 ), Mile -a- minute Kendall (1918 ), Sinners (1920), Marry the Poor Girl (1921 ) and Blow Your Own Horn ( 1923).

His most important work for the stage Icebound (1923 ) was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

His other plays include Ethan Frome (1926 ), an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Edith Wharton, and The Detour ( 1931). In 1932, an adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's novel " The Good Earth " ( The Good Earth ) along with his second son, Donald Davis. The premiere of the play took place on October 18, 1933 in New York City instead of Claude Rains and Alla Nazimova in the lead roles.

On the other was his play The Nervous Wreck of Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn in the musical Whoopee! processed and premiered on December 4, 1928 at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York. 1930, the musical by Thornton Freeland was filmed.

His elder son was the actor Owen Davis, Jr., who played among others in the movie on the Western Front (1930 ) to Peter.