Actor/playwright Donald Ogden Stewart wrote several satirical novels in the 1920s. In 1928, his friend, Philip Barry wrote the play Holiday, having Stewart in mind when he wrote the part of Nick Potter. Stewart played the part on Broadway and continued acting for the next several years. He adapted his own novel, Brown of Harvard, for the screen. He often provided dialogue for the scripts of others, including for the films Dinner at Eight (1933) and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). His screen adaptation of Barry's play, The Philadelphia Story, earned him an Acadamy Award in 1940. In 1950, Stewart was blacklisted for being a "premature anti-fascist" in the years prior to World War II. He fled to England, where he remained until his death. In the 1970s, after recovering from a near-fatal stroke, Stewart wrote his autobiography, A Stroke of Luck.
A Parody Outline of History. The humorist's first major publication collects irreverent interpretations of major events in American history as if written by various modern writers, including "Main Street, Plymouth, Mass. in the Manner of Sinclair Lewis," "The Courtship of Miles Standish in the Manner of F. Scott Fitzgerald," and "Custer's Last Stand in the Manner of Edith Wharton." His subsequent popular comic works are Aunt Polly's Story of Mankind (1923), Mr. and Mrs. Haddock Abroad (1924), The Crazy Fool (1925), and Father William (1929). Stewart would produce a successful play, Rebound (1930), and win an Oscar for his screenplay of Philip Barry's Philadelphia Story (1940).
Career Highlights: The Philadelphia Story, Love Affair, Holiday
First Major Screen Credit: Brown of Harvard (1926)
Biography
Had he so chosen, Ohio-born Donald Ogden Stewart could have lived the life of a wealthy socialite instead of playing such characters on stage. Educated at Yale, Stewart was well-off enough to indulge in his hobby of writing on a professional basis; he wrote several satirical novels that were a hit amongst the "smart set" of the '20s. Fellow Yale grad Philip Barry wrote the part of Nick Potter in the 1928 play Holiday with Stewart in mind, and with but a little persuasion convinced his friend to star in the play on Broadway. Stewart continued acting on stage in the company of long-time pals Elliott Nugent and Robert Montgomery, all of them adept at playing witty young sprouts in dinner jackets. He flirted with films from 1925 onward, when he was hired to adapt his own novel Brown of Harvard to the screen. Stewart made his talkie bow in a supporting role in the Marion Davies vehicle Not So Dumb (1929); after that, his contributions to the screen were primarily focused on writing, aside from a few bit parts in his own films. Most often, Stewart was called in to provide additional dialogue in order to punch up a too-serious script; in this capacity, Stewart contributed to Smilin' Through (1932) Dinner at Eight (1933), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). In 1940 he won an Academy Award for adapting his friend Philip Barry's play The Philadelphia Story to the screen. Stewart's screenwriting career flourished until the end of the '40s, at which time he was blacklisted for being a "premature anti-fascist" in the years before World War II. Forced to resettle professionally in London, Stewart's screenwriting assignments diminished, and he returned to penning books and articles; his bitterness over his treatment during the Hollywood witchhunt severly affected his ability to be funny in his latter-day works. After recovering from a near-fatal stroke, Donald Ogden Stewart gained a new appreciation of the good things in life, which he recorded in his 1974 autobiography A Stroke of Luck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
He became interested in adapting some of his plays to film, but on first entering Hollywood he had to adapt the plays of others as his own were initially shelved. Once there he mostly wrote, but he also had a small part in the film Not So Dumb. By the 1930s he had become known primarily as a sceenwriter and won an Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story (1940).
As World War II approached, he became a member of the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, which, during the Second Red Scare, was suspected of being a Communist front. Stewart was blacklisted in 1950 and the following year emigrated to England, where he lived for the rest of his life.
His 1975 memoir is entitled By a Stroke of Luck. He died in London in 1980 and was survived by his widow Ella Winter, who died the same year. They had been married for over 40 years, but he also had a previous marriage which produced two sons. [2][1]
