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Irving Stone

 
Writer: Irving Stone
 
  • Born: Jul 14, 1903
  • Died: Aug 26, 1989
  • Occupation: Writer
  • Active: '40s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Historical Film
  • Career Highlights: The Agony and the Ecstasy, Lust for Life, Clarence Darrow
  • First Major Screen Credit: Arkansas Judge (1941)

Biography

Distinguished and internationally read author Irving Stone penned many biographical novels over his long career. Before becoming a full-time writer, Stone studied political science and economics on teaching fellowships at U.S.C. and Berkeley. He was inspired to write his fictionalized biographies during a visit to Paris in 1926. There he saw an exhibit of Van Gogh's masterpieces and was so deeply moved that he began intensive research into the troubled painter's life. The result was Lust for Life, which was eventually made into a film starring Kirk Douglas in 1956. Other Stone works that have been adapted into films include Magnificent Doll (1946), The President's Lady (1953), and The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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Works: Works by Irving Stone
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(1903-1989)

1934Lust for Life. The California writer produces the first of his popular fictionalized biographies, treating the life of painter Vincent van Gogh.
1944Immortal Wife. Called the "most magisterial of all the popular novelists," Stone supplies another of his highly popular, well-researched, and fully documented fictional biographies, this one about Jessie Benton Frémont, wife of the explorer, military figure, and politician John C. Frémont.

 
Wikipedia: Irving Stone
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Irving Stone (July 14, 1903 San Francisco, CaliforniaAugust 26, 1989) was an American writer known for his biographical novels of famous historical personalities. His best known works are Lust for Life a biographical novel about the life of Vincent van Gogh and The Agony and the Ecstasy a biographical novel about Michelangelo.

Contents

Biography

In 1923, Stone received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley.[1] In the 1960s, Stone received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Southern California, where he had previously earned a Masters Degree from the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.

When at home, Stone relied upon the research facilities and expertise made available to him by Esther Euler, head research librarian of the University of California at Los Angeles, to whom he dedicated and thanked, in addition to many others, in several of his works.

Stone enjoyed a long marriage to his wife and editor on many of his works, Jean Stone. The Stones lived primarily in Los Angeles, California. During their lifetime, Stone and his wife funded a foundation to support charitable causes they believed in.

Lust For Life

Stone's main source for Lust for Life, as noted in the afterword, were Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo. It seems probable that Vincent's letters to and from his own brother Theo provided a foundation for Adversary in the House. Stone additionally did much of his research "in the field". For example, he spent many years living in Italy while working on The Agony and the Ecstasy. The Italian government lauded Stone with several honorary awards during this period for his cultural achievements highlighting Italian history.

In 1956, a popular film version was made of Lust for Life, based on Stone's 1934 novel, starring Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh. In 1965, a film was made of The Agony and the Ecstasy, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II.

Selected literary output

Some of Stone's important historical biographical works include:

References

  1. ^ http://ls.berkeley.edu/?q=alumni/meet-our-alumni
  2. ^ Kate Debs seemed to have been so hostile to Debs's socialist activities - it threatened her sense of middle-class respectability - that novelist Irving Stone was led to call her, in the title of his fictional portrayal of the life of Debs, the Adversary in the House. (Daniel Bell, Marxian Socialism in the United States, footnote on page 88)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Writer. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Works. The Chronology of American Literature, edited by Daniel S. Burt. Copyright © 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Irving Stone" Read more