George Scarborough (writer)
George Moore Scarborough (1875 – 1951) was an American lawyer, playwright, and write whose works appeared on stage and screen.
Biography
He was born in Mount Carmel, Texas and studied at Baylor University and University of Texas.[1] He became a lawyer at his father's firm before deciding to write for the theater and moving to New York after his father's death in 1905.[2]
While seeking out a producer for his work, he served as a newspaperman and Secret Service agent. He later used those experiences in his stories.
His Broadway plays include such successes as The Lure (1913), At Bay (1913), The Heart of Wetona (1916), Moonlight and Honeysuckle (1919), and The Son-Daughter (1919), Mrs. Hope's Husband (1921), The Heaven Tappers (1926), The Girl I Loved (1929), and The Moon of Honey (1929).[3] Several of his works were adapted to film.
During a 1929 Los Angeles performance of his play Bad Babies, Scarborough, eight actors and the stage manager were all arrested for staging an "indecent and lewd exhibition."[4] Scarborough subsequently sued the police for $50,000 of damages on behalf of the cast.[5]
His sister Dorothy Scarborough was a novelist and musicologist.[6][7] Around 1921, he married actress Annette Westbay. They later wrote plays together.[8][9]
Theatrical works
Film adaptations
Several of Scarborough's plays and written works have been adapted into films, including:
- The Lure (1914)
- The Final Judgment (1915)
- At Bay (1915)
- The Painted Madonna (1917)
- Stolen Honor (1918)
- Cupid's Round Up (1918) from his story "Maria of the Roses" (1918)
- The Forbidden City (1918)
- Luck and Pluck (1919)
- The Heart of Wetona (1919)
- Moonlight and Honeysuckle (1921)
- The Grail[19] (1923)
- Hell's Hole (1923)
- The Son-Daughter
- Shameful Behavior? (1926)
References
- Bordman, Gerald; Hischak, Thomas S. (October 27, 2004). The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195169867.001.0001. ISBN 9780195169867 – via www.oxfordreference.com.
- Texas Writers of Today - Volume 1 - Page 397 books.google.com › books
- "TSHA | Scarborough, George Moore". www.tshaonline.org.
- "Los Angeles Police Arrest Ten in Play". New York Times. 30 August 1929. p. 27. ProQuest 104939855. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- "Playwright Sues Police". New York Times. 31 August 1929. p. 12. ProQuest 104913006. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- Texas, a Guide to the Lone Star State. Best Books on. 1940. ISBN 9781623760427.
- "Scarborough, Dorothy (1878–1935) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
- "Broadway Openings and Closings". The Billboard. 39 (11): 10–11. 12 March 1927.
- "The Theatre and Its People". The Windsor Star. 18 March 1927. p. 26. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- "George Moore Scarborough Play Starts about halfway down on left". El Paso Herald. March 7, 1914. p. 10 – via newspapers.com.
- "'At Bay' Provides Some Real Suspense". New York Times. 8 October 1913. p. 11. ProQuest 97487645. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- "'Heart of Wetona' Tense Melodrama". New York Times. 1 March 1916. p. 9. ProQuest 98013628. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- "Theatrical And Musical News Of This And Coming Weeks In Baltimore". The Sun. 2 November 1919. p. A4. ProQuest 538734275. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- "Ford's: 'The Merrie Month Of May,' With Ruth Chatterton". The Sun. 11 March 1919. p. 6. ProQuest 536909710. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- "Bennison Tells How". The Washington Post. 20 February 1927. p. F3. ProQuest 149787133. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- "The News from the Western Front". New York Times. 25 August 1929. p. X1. ProQuest 104891887. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- Woollcott, Alexander (9 November 1921). "The Play". New York Times. p. 25. ProQuest 98532148.
- "White Slave Play of Some Grim Power". New York Times. 15 August 1913. p. 7. ProQuest 97425130. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- "Dustin Farnum: Appears as Texas Ranger in "The Grail," by George Scarborough". The Chicago Defender (National Edition). 17 November 1923. p. 6. ProQuest 491993992. Retrieved 6 November 2020.