Nash, Richard (1674-1762), later known as ‘Beau’ Nash. Son of a Swansea glass-maker, Nash entered the Inner Temple (1693). Addiction to gaming drew him to Bath (1705), which, although fashionable, had few arrangements for comfort or entertainment. Good organizational skill and energy led to a position as master of ceremonies where he crusaded against overcharging, duelling, and informality. Although ‘arbiter elegantarium’, he was primarily a professional gamester. Despite his contributions to Bath's prosperity and the establishment of its Mineral Water Hospital, the corporation coldly watched its uncrowned king slide into poverty, but interred him in Bath abbey.
N. Richard Nash
| British History: Richard Nash |
| Works: Works by N. Richard Nash |
(1913-2000)
| 1954 | The Rainmaker. Nash's romantic comedy about a con man who brings rain to a drought-stricken land while bringing love to a spinster is extremely popular, winning the Karl Gosse Award and inspiring a musical adaptation, 110 in the Shade (1963). The Rainmaker would be the Philadelphia-born playwright's only success. |
| Writer: N. Richard Nash |
- Born: 1913c
- Died: Dec 01, 2000 in Manhattan, New York
- Occupation: Writer
- Active: '40s-'50s, '80s
- Major Genres: Drama, Romance
- Career Highlights: Porgy and Bess, The Rainmaker, Mara Maru
- First Major Screen Credit: Nora Prentiss (1947)
Biography
It's a long way, going from a ten dollar a fight boxer to becoming the author of one of the most popular plays of an era, but N. Richard Nash made the transition seamlessly.Born in Philadelphia, Nash floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee before deciding to drop his gloves in favor of a pen, entering the University of Philadelphia to study English and philosophy. After graduating and publishing two successful philosophical works, Nash penned The Second Best Bed in 1946. The Shakespearian-themed comedy brought Nash much acclaim and led to his writing two other dramas before the penning of The Rainmaker in the early '50s. Opening in 1954, the The Rainmaker was so influential that it was not only translated into 40 languages, but was later turned into a popular film, and in turn transformed into the popular Broadway musical 110 in the Shade, which was later revived (starring actor Woody Harrelson) in 1999. Nash wrote the screenplays to such films as The Sainted Sisters (1948) and Porgy and Bess (1959) throughout the late '40s and into the 1950s, and continued to exercise his pen until his final screenplay, Between the Darkness and the Dawn, in 1985. Though he would pen other Broadway musicals such as Sarava and Wildcat, as well as novels including East Wind, Rain and The Wildwood, it was The Rainmaker that would maintain its hold as Nash's defining work. On December 1, 2000, N. Richard Nash died in Manhattan. He was 87.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
| Filmography: N. Richard Nash |
| Wikipedia: N. Richard Nash |
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) |
N. Richard Nash (June 8, 1913 – December 11, 2000) was a writer and dramatist best known for writing Broadway shows, including The Rainmaker.
Contents |
Early life
Nash was born Nathan Richard Nusbaum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the son of S. L. Nusbaum, a bookbinder, and Jenny Singer Nusbaum. He worked as a ten dollar per match boxer and graduated from South Philadelphia high school in 1930 before entering the University of Pennsylvania to study English and philosophy.
Career
Nash published two books on philosophy, The Athenian Spirit and The Wounds of Sparta.
Nash wrote his first play, Parting at Imsdorf, in 1940, which won the Maxwell Anderson Verse Drama Award. Next, he penned the Shakespearian-themed comedy The Second Best Bed, produced on Broadway in 1946. The highly acclaimed drama led to him writing more shows, including The Young and Fair (1948), See the Jaguar (1952, for which he won the International Drama Award in Cannes and the Prague Award), and The Rainmaker (1954, starring Geraldine Page; revived on Broadway in 1999). The Rainmaker, a full-length play, had originally been a Philco Television Playhouse one-act 1953 television production. It was translated to over 40 languages and made into a 1956 Hollywood film starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn, and a 1982 full-length TV production. The play was also made into a Broadway musical, 110 in the Shade.
Nash went on to write a number of screenplays, novels and more plays, including the screenplays for the 1947 Ann Sheridan film noir, Nora Prentiss, The Sainted Sisters (1948), Dear Wife (1949), Mara Maru (1952), Helen of Troy (1956), Porgy and Bess (1959), and later Dragonfly (1976, reissued as One Summer Love) and Between the Darkness and the Dawn (1985). Other Broadway shows include Girls of Summer (1956), Handful of Fire (1958), Wildcat (1960, starring Lucille Ball), 110 in the Shade (1963; revived in 2007), The Happy Time (1968, nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical), and Saravà (1979). Nash's novels include East Wind, Rain, "Radiance", "The Last Magic", and an unpublished novel,The Wildwood. Under the pseudonym, John Roc, he also wrote a play, "Fire!" and a novel, "Winter Blood".
Personal life
Nash married 1935 Helena Taylor, with whom he had one son. They divorced in 1954. Nash was married to Janice Rule in 1956, but they divorced later that same year. Later that year, he married Katherine Copeland aka Kaplan, with whom he had two daughters.
Death
Nash died in Manhattan, New York on New York 11 December 2000, at the age of 87.
References
External links
- N. Richard Nash at the Internet Broadway Database
- N. Richard Nash at the IMDB database
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 | British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- The Rainmaker (1982 Drama Film)
- The Happy Time (American Theater)
- The Rainmaker (American Theater)
- 110 in the Shade, musical (Classical Work)
- Janice Rule
- The Rainmaker (1956 film)
- Rainmaker
- The Rainmaker (play)
- Helen of Troy (film)
- Wildcat (musical)
- 110 in the Shade
- The Happy Time (musical)
- 1954 (chronology)
- 1961 (chronology)
