Charles Edward Blaney

Blaney, Charles E[dward] (1866–1944), playwright. Born in Columbus, Ohio, he began his career as an actor but soon switched to playwriting and became a prolific author of melodramas, tearjerkers, and farce comedies. The titles of some of his plays suggest their nature: The Curse of Drink, For His Brother's Crime, King of the Opium Ring, and More to Be Pitied Than Scorned. Many of these plays were written for the Stair and Havlin circuit, while others were created for a chain of theatres (often playhouses fallen on hard times, such as Philadelphia's Arch Street Theatre), which Blaney ran. The coming of films destroyed his market.