Anne Crawford Flexner (June 27, 1874 – January 11, 1955) born Anne Laziere Crawford, was an American playwright.

Early life and education

Anne Laziere Crawford was born in

Georgetown, Kentucky Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the sixth-most populous city in Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originally called Lebanon whe ...

, the daughter of Louis G. Crawford and Susan Farnum.Boewe, Mary. She earned a bachelor's degree from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

in 1895. One of her Vassar classmates was newspaper publisher and efficiency expert

Georgie Boynton Child Georgie Smith Boynton Child (August 8, 1873 – December 10, 1945) was an American efficiency expert, writer, and business manager. Early life Georgie Smith Boynton was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, the daughter of Casimir Whitman Boynton an ...

; Crawford was matron of honor at Boynton's wedding in 1903.

Career

In 1897, Anne Crawford moved to New York City to seek a literary career. She wrote drama reviews for the ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'', and began writing her own plays. Her first success, ''Miranda of the Balcony'' (based on a novel by

A. E. W. Mason Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 – 22 November 1948) was an English author and Liberal Party Member of Parliament. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, ''The Four Feathers'', and is also known a ...

) starred

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

when it opened in 1901. She also adapted the works of her Louisville friend

Alice Hegan Rice Alice Hegan Rice, also known as Alice Caldwell Hegan, (January 11, 1870 – February 10, 1942) was an American novelist. Her 1901 novel '' Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' became a play and four films. Biography Alice Caldwell Hegan was born ...

for the stage, as ''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' (1904), starring

Madge Carr Cook Madge Carr Cook (1856–1933) was an English-born American stage actress. Biography Cook was born Madge Carr on June 28, 1856, in Yorkshire, England. She debuted on stage at age 3, portraying Fleance in ''Macbeth'' in Sunderland, England. Cook po ...

Plays by Anne Crawford Flexner

*''A Man's Woman'' (1899) *''Miranda of the Balcony'' (1901) *''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' (1904) *''A Lucky Star'' (1910) *''The Marriage Game'' (1913) *''Wanted – An Alibi'' (1917) *''The Blue Pearl'' (1918) *''All Soul's Eve'' (1920) *''Aged 26'' (1936)

Film adaptations

Flexner's 1904 play ''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' was adapted for the screen in 1914,

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, and

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

. ''The Blue Pearl'' (1918) became a film in 1920, and ''All Soul's Eve'' (1920) was adapted for the screen in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

Personal life

Anne Crawford married educator

Abraham Flexner Abraham Flexner (November 13, 1866 – September 21, 1959) was an American educator, best known for his role in the 20th century reform of medical education, medical and higher education in the United States and Canada. After founding and direct ...

in 1898. Their daughter Jean Flexner attended the London School of Economics; their younger daughter Eleanor Flexner (1908–1995) was a noted scholar and proponent of women's studies. Anne Crawford Flexner was hospitalized in mental decline for the last years of her life, and died in 1955, aged 80 years, in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. Some of her papers are included in the Abraham Flexner Papers, in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. Jean Flexner Lewison wrote a biography of her parents, ''A Family Memoir, 1899–1989'', and Abraham Flexner wrote an autobiography, published in 1940.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flexner, Anne Crawford 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 1874 births 1955 deaths Writers from Kentucky American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers