Grace Hayward

Grace Hayward (1868 – 1959)[1] was an American playwright and actress.

Grace Hayward on a 1900 theatrical poster

Early life

Hayward was born in 1868 in Terre Haute, Indiana and in 1884, she moved to Mount Carmel, Illinois. Her father was a mail carrier and travel agent. At 13 years old, she ran away from home so that she could be a part of a medicine show. She raised money for feminists including Grace Hall Hemingway. She was married to Chicago theater mogul George Gatts.[1][2]

Career

In 1901, Hayward started her own theater company with 15 actors, known as the Kerosene Circuit. The Kerosene Circuit performed at the Warrington Opera House from 1909 to 1914. The company performed new shows almost every Monday, including George M. Cohan musicals and comedies that were written by Hayward. The Kerosene Unit usually sold out of the 1,500 seats at the Warrington Opera House. Broadway actor Charles Dingle was a part of the theater company. Beginning around 1913, the company became unsuccessful with some of the actors joining the film industry. The company disbanded in 1920 and Hayward moved to Hollywood as a playwright and radio scriptwriter.[1] Her 1936 play The CCC Murder Mystery was successful although a Syracuse Post-Standard reviewer stated that "no Broadway audience would appreciate it".[3]

Death and legacy

Hayward died in 1959 in Hollywood. Doug Deuchler wrote a play about Hayward's life in 1990.[1]

Plays
  • The CCC Murder Mystery
  • Graustark; or, Love Behind a Throne
  • Lend Me Your Baby
  • Little Women
  • Some Girl
  • Truxton King[4]

References
  1. Murphy, H. Lee (July 13, 1990). "Kick Up Your Heels Recalls Legendary Oak Park Resident". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. McCormick, Mike (June 30, 2002). "Historical perspectives: Playwright, actress Hayward makes Terre Haute proud". Indiana Memory. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  3. Osborne, Elizabeth A. (June 20, 2011). Staging the People: Community and Identity in the Federal Theatre Project. Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-230-11956-7.
  4. Diodato Bzowski, Frances (1992). American Women Playwrights, 1900 – 1930; A Checklist. Greenwood Press. p. 169. ISBN 0313242380.
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