- Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (
January 19 ,1887 –January 23 ,1943 ) was an American critic and commentator for "The New Yorker " magazine, and a member of theAlgonquin Round Table .He was the inspiration for Sheridan Whiteside, the main character in the play "
The Man Who Came to Dinner " byGeorge S. Kaufman andMoss Hart ,Oscar Levant, "The Unimportance of Being Oscar ", Pocket Books 1969 (reprint of G.P. Putnam 1968), p. 81. ISBN 0-671-77104-3.] and for the far less likable character Waldo Lydecker in the classic film "Laura." He claimed to be the inspiration forRex Stout 's brilliant detectiveNero Wolfe , but Stout, although he was friendly to Woollcott, said there was nothing to this idea.Woollcott's review of the
Marx Brothers ' Broadway debut, "I'll Say She Is ", helped highlight the renaissance of the group's career and started a life-long friendship withHarpo Marx . Harpo's two adopted sons, William (Bill) Woollcott Marx and Alexander Marx, are named after Woollcott.Biography
Nicknamed Aleck, Woollcott was born near
Red Bank, New Jersey and graduated fromHamilton College inClinton, New York . In his early twenties he contracted themumps , which apparently left him mostly, if not completely, impotent. He never married or had children, although he had a large number of female friends, most notable of whom wereDorothy Parker andNeysa McMein , to whom he actually proposed the day after she had just wed her new husband, Jack Baragwanath.Woollcott was born in an 85-room house, a vast ramshackle building that had once been a commune. It was called The
North American Phalanx , and was in Phalanx, New Jersey. There were many social experiments in the mid-1800s, some more successful than others. When The Phalanx fell apart after a fire there in 1854, it was taken over by the Bucklin family, Woollcott's maternal grandparents. There, amid his extended family, Woollcott spent large portions of his childhood. His father was a ne'er-do-wellCockney who drifted through various jobs, sometimes spending long periods away from his wife and children. Poverty was always close at hand.The Bucklins and Woollcotts were avid readers, giving young Aleck a lifelong love of literature, especially the works of
Charles Dickens . Through a family friend, Dr. Alexander Humphreys (after whom he was named), Woollcott made his way through college, graduating from Hamilton College, in upstate New York, in 1909. There, despite a rather poor reputation (his nickname was "Putrid") he founded a drama group, edited the student literary magazine, and was accepted by a fraternity.He was one of the most prolific drama critics at "
The New York Times " and was an owlish character whose caustic wit either joyously attracted or vehemently repelled the artistic communities of 1920s Manhattan. He was banned for a time from reviewing certainBroadway theater shows. [Marx, Harpo, and Barber, Rowland. "Harpo Speaks!" New York: Limelight Editions. (2004)"] As a result he sued the Shubert theater organization for violation of the New York Civil Rights Act, but lost in the state's highest court in 1916 on the grounds that only discrimination on the basis of race, creed or color was unlawful. [Bruce B. Klee. (1961) Woollcott vs. Shubert: Dramatic Criticism on Trial. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-1989(196112)13%3A4%3C264%3AWVSDCO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R Educational Theatre Journal] " "13, 4", "264-268".] From 1929 to 1934 Woollcott wrote a column called "Shouts and Murmurs" for "The New Yorker ". He was frequently criticized for his ornate, florid style of writing and, in contrast to his contemporariesJames Thurber andS. J. Perelman , he is little read today, although his book, "While Rome Burns", published byGrosset & Dunlap in 1934, was in 1954 named by criticVincent Starrett as one of the 52 "Best Loved Books of the Twentieth Century".Radio
Billed as "The Early Bookworm", Woollcott was first heard on
CBS radio in October 1929, reviewing books in various timeslots until 1933. His CBS show "The Town Crier", which beganJuly 21 ,1933 , opened with the ringing of a bell and the cry, "Hear ye, hear ye!", followed by Woollcott's literary observations punctuated with acidic anecdotes. Sponsored byCream of Wheat (1934-35) and Grainger Tobacco (1937-38), it continued untilJanuary 6 ,1938 . He had no reservations about using this forum to promote his own books, and the continual mentions of his "While Rome Burns" (1934) made it a bestseller.He was one of the most-quoted men of his generation. Among Woollcott's classics is his description of the
Los Angeles area as "Seven suburbs in search of a city" — a quip often attributed to his friendDorothy Parker . Describing "The New Yorker " editorHarold Ross , he said: "He looks like a dishonestAbe Lincoln ."Woollcott, who claimed the "
Brandy Alexander " was a concoction named after him, was known for his savage wit. He once said about another contemporary wit and piano player: "There is absolutely nothing wrong withOscar Levant that a miracle can't fix." He also was known to greet friends with, "Hello, Repulsive." Famously, he published the shortest theatrical review in history by submitting to his editor simply: "Ouch."His judgments were frequently eccentric. Dorothy Parker once said: "I remember hearing Woollcott say reading Proust is like lying in someone else's dirty bath water. And then he'd go into ecstasy about something called, "
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie ", and I knew I had enough of the Round Table." [http://www.dorothyparker.com/nytobit.html.]Wolcott Gibbs , who often edited Woollcott's work at "The New Yorker", was quoted inJames Thurber 's "The Years with Ross" on Woollcott's writing::"Shouts and Murmurs" was about the strangest copy I ever edited. You could take every other sentence out without changing the sense a particle. The whole department, in fact, often had no more substance than a "Talk [of the Town] " anecdote. I guess he was one of the most dreadful writers who ever existed.After being kicked out of the apartment he shared with "The New Yorker" founders
Harold Ross and his wifeJane Grant , Woollcott moved first into the Hotel des Artistes on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, then to an apartment at the far end of East 52nd Street. The members of theAlgonquin Round Table had a debate as to what to call his new home.Franklin P. Adams suggested that he name it after the Indian word "Ocowoica", meaning "The-Little-Apartment-On-The-East-River-That-It-Is-Difficult-To-Find-A-Taxicab-Near". ButDorothy Parker came up with the definitive name: Wit's End.Woollcott yearned to be as creative as the people with whom he surrounded himself. Among many other endeavors, he tried his hand at acting and co-wrote two Broadway shows with playwright
George S. Kaufman , while appearing in two others. He also starred as Sheridan Whiteside, for whom he was the inspiration, in the traveling production of "The Man Who Came to Dinner " in 1940. He also appeared in several cameos in films in the late 1930s and 1940s.Politically, Woollcott called for normalization of U.S.-Soviet relations. He was a friend of reporter
Walter Duranty , even though he described him as a "man from mars". [While Rome Burns, The Viking Press, 1934] and Soviet foreign ministerMaxim Litvinov , and traveled to theUSSR in the 1930s, as well as sending his friendHarpo Marx toMoscow on a comedy tour in 1934. Yet he was attacked viciously in the left-wing press after his visit to the Soviet Union for his less than laudatory depiction of the "worker's paradise." Towards the end of Woollcott's life he semi-retired toNeshobe Island inLake Bomoseen inVermont , which he had purchased.On
January 23 ,1943 , Woollcott appeared on his last radio broadcast, [ "Forum To Air Cure For Nazis: Woollcott, Others on Roundtable at 6," "Wisconsin State Journal", January 23, 1943, p6 ] as a participant in a panel discussion on theCBS Radio program "The People's Platform". Marking the tenth anniversary of Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the subject was "Is Germany Incurable", and featured Woollcott andRex Stout andMarcia Davenport . Ten minutes into the broadcast, Woollcott commented that he was feeling ill, but continued his remarks. "It's a fallacy to think that Hitler was the cause of the world's present woes," he said. Woollcott continued, adding "Germany was the cause of Hitler." [ "Wit's End", TIME Magazine, February 1, 1943 ] He said nothing further. The radio audience was unaware that Woollcott had suffered a heart attack. He died at New York's Roosevelt Hospital a few hours later, aged 56. [ "Woollcott Dies After Collapse," "Wisconsin State Journal", January 24, 1943, p1 ]He was buried in Clinton, New York, at his alma mater, Hamilton College, but not without some confusion. By mistake, his ashes were sent to
Colgate University inHamilton, New York . When the error was corrected and the ashes were forwarded to Hamilton College, they arrived with 67¢ postage due. [ Christine Quigley, "The Corpse: A History", (McFarland Press, 1996) p101 ]Broadway
*"Wine of Choice" [Play, Comedy] Starring: Alexander Woollcott as Binkie Niebuhr (February 21, 1938 - March 1938)
*"Gift of Gab" (1934) Alexander Woollcott, cameo in Universal Pictures feature
*"The Dark Tower " [Play, Melodrama] Written by Alexander Woollcott &George S. Kaufman (November 25, 1933 - January 1934)
*"Brief Moment" [Play, Comedy] Alexander Woollcott as Harold Sigrift (November 9, 1931 - February 1932)
*"The Channel Road" [Play, Comedy] Written by Alexander Woollcott &George S. Kaufman (October 17, 1929 - December 1929)Films
*"
Babes on Broadway " (1941) Woollcott has a cameo in thisMickey Rooney -Judy Garland musical.
*"Mr. W's Little Game" (1935) Woollcott's only short subject, in which he plays a word game with a waiter and a blonde woman.
*"The Scoundrel " (1935) This Oscar-winning film was made by Woollcott's friendsBen Hecht andCharles MacArthur , and starred longtime Woollcott friendNoel Coward . Woollcott appears in a supporting role.Quotes
*"All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening."
*"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it."
*"Many of us spend half of our time wishing for things we could have if we didn't spend half our time wishing."
*"Germany was the cause ofHitler as much asChicago is responsible for theChicago Tribune ."
*"There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day."
*"His huff arrived and he departed in it."
*"A hick town is one where there is no place to go where you shouldn't go."
*"The English have an extraordinary ability for flying into a great calm."
*"At 83,George Bernard Shaw 's mind was perhaps not quite as good as it used to be, but it was still better than anyone else's."
*"I have no need of your God-damned sympathy. I only wish to be entertained by some of your grosser reminiscences."
*"It comes from the likes of you!... Take what you can get! Grab the chances as they come along! Act in hallways! Sing in doorways! Dance in cellars!"Books
*"Mrs Fiske: Her views on Actors, Acting and the Problems of Production" (1917) -
Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865-1932) was one of the foremost actresses of her day. Woollcott's first book is a study of her thoughts on the acting profession.
*"The Command is Forward" (1919) - A collection of his reportage and essays from "The Stars and Stripes ".
*"Shouts and Murmurs" (1922) - Theatre articles. His column in "The New Yorker " was named after this book. "The New Yorker" revived the title as a catch-all for humorous pieces in the 1990s.
*"Mr. Dickens Goes to the Play" (1922) - A few chapters by Woollcott onCharles Dickens 's love of the theatre and a great many reprinted selections from Dickens's writings.
*"Enchanted Aisles" (1924) - More theatre articles.
*"The Story ofIrving Berlin " (1925) - The rags-to-riches story of the great composer.
*"Going to Pieces" (1928) - More stories of Woollcott's friends in and out of the theatre.
*"Two Gentlemen and a Lady" (1928) - A short book about dogs.
*"While Rome Burns" (1934) - It wasThornton Wilder who convinced Woollcott that his work was important enough to deserve reissue in book form. "While Rome Burns" was a surprise bestseller and further cemented Woollcott's reputation nationally. It is light reading but includes much that is amusing or quaint and one very fine piece, "Hands Across the Sea," about justice during the war.
*"The Woollcott Reader" (1935) - An anthology of works by other writers that Woollcott felt deserved the public's attention. The pieces run several gamuts, from treacly biography to acid modernism.
*"Woollcott's Second Reader" (1937) - More of the same.
*"Long, Long Ago" (1943) - Issued just after his death, this follows in the steps of "While Rome Burns" but is not as good. The decline in his prose, as other interests drew on his time, is evident. Still, there are some amusing pieces, and it became another bestseller.
*"As You Were" (1943) - An anthology of other people's works, compiled by Woollcott for issue to servicemen in the Second World War. It is dedicated to Frode Jensen, a young Danish man whom Woollcott befriended and who was the closest to a son as Woollcott ever had.
*"The Letters of Alexander Woollcott" (1944) - A collection of his voluminous correspondence compiled by two of his dearest friends, Beatrice Kaufman and Joe Hennessey.
*"The Portable Woollcott" (1946) - An anthology of the best of Woollcott's writings.ee also
References
External links
* [http://www.dorothyparker.com/walk.html Algonquin Round Table Walking Tours]
* [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/great-radio-hoax.html The Great Radio Hoax of 1935]
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