Augustus Thomas (January 8, 1857 – August 12, 1934) was an American playwright.

Biography

Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

and son of a medical doctor, Thomas worked a number of jobs including as a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

in the

41st Congress The 41st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1869, ...

, studying law, and gaining some practical railway work experience before he turned to journalism and became editor of the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

''Mirror'' in 1889. Thomas had been writing since his teens when he wrote plays and even organized a small theatrical touring company. Thomas was hired to work as an assistant at Pope's Theatre in St. Louis. During this time, he wrote a one-act play called ''Editha's Burglar'', based on a short story by

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1886), ''A Little Princess'' (1905), a ...

called ''The Burglar''. After touring in the play, he expanded the show to four acts, renamed it ''The Burglar'', and was able to get Maurice Barrymore to play the title role. Subsequently, he was hired to succeed

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

adapting foreign plays for the Madison Square Theatre. His first successful play, ''Alabama'', was produced by Kirke La Shelle in 1891 and its financial reward allowed Thomas to write full-time. ''Alabama'' is the story of an un-reconstructed Confederate. Notably, Thomas was one of the first playwrights to make use of American material. Other plays along the same lines include ''In Mizzoura'' (1893), ''

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

'' (1900), ''Colorado'' (1900) and ''Rio Grande'' (1916). Perhaps his most successful play was ''The Copperhead'' (1918) which made Lionel Barrymore a star. Thomas joined

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a New York City social club that nurtures those active in the arts, as well as those who are supporters of the arts, by providing activities and a clubhouse for its members. It is America's old ...

theatrical club in 1889 and served as its president from 1907 to 1910. In 1913, he was the first recipient of the Gold Medal for Drama from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

. He died in 1934 and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Select works

* ''Editha's Burglar'', 1884 * ''The Burglar'', 1889 * ''A Man of the World'', 1889 * ''Reckless Temple'', 1890 * ''A Woman of the Worl''d, 1890 * ''

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

'', 1891 * ''Colonel Carter of Cartersville'', 1892 * ''In Mizzoura'', 1893 * ''New Blood'', 1894 * ''

'', 1900 * ''Oliver Goldsmith'', 1900 * ''Colorado'', 1900 * ''Soldiers of Fortune'', 1902 (from 1897 Richard Harding Davis novel) * ''The Earl of Pawtucket'', 1903 * ''The Other Girl'', 1903 * ''Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots'', 1905 * ''The Embassy Ball'', 1906 * ''The Witching Hour,'' 1907 * ''The Harvest Moon'', 1909 * ''The Member from Ozark'', 1910 * ''As a Man Thinks'', 1911 * '' The Copperhead'', 1918 * ''Nemesis'', 1921 * ''The Print of My Remembrance'' (autobiography), 1922 * ''Still Waters'', 1926

Select filmography

* ''

'' (1913) * ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a novel by American author and muckraking-journalist Upton Sinclair, known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century. In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information ...

'' (1914) * '' Shore Acres'' (1914) * '' Paid in Full'' (1914) * '' The Nightingale'' (1914) * ''

'' (1918) * '' The Capitol'' (1919) * '' The Copperhead'' (1920) * '' The Bonnie Brier Bush'' (1921) * '' Thirty Days'' (1922) * '' The Family Secret'' (1924) * ''

'' (1931)

References

* *Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th edition. London:Oxford UP, 1983. pps. 827–828. *Moody, Richard. "Augustus Thomas". in Banham, Martin, ed. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'', London:Cambridge UP, 1992.

External links

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Bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Augustus 1857 births 1934 deaths American dramatists and playwrights American newspaper editors Writers from St. Louis Writers from New Rochelle, New York Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters American male screenwriters Film producers from Missouri Film directors from Missouri Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery American male dramatists and playwrights Journalists from New York (state) Film directors from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Missouri Film producers from New York (state) The Lambs presidents 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters