Edward Brewster Sheldon (February 4, 1886, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

– April 1, 1946, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American dramatist. His plays include ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and '' Romance'' (1913), which was made into a motion picture with

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

. After becoming ill at age 29 with crippling

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

, which eventually claimed his sight (around 1930), Sheldon became a source of emotional and creative support for his many friends, notably

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 ...

(he wrote ''Salvation Nell'' for her), Julia Marlowe,

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly a ...

(his closest friend and confidante),

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic for The New York Times and the New York Herald, critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an ...

Anne Morrow Lindbergh Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001) was an American writer and aviator. She was the wife of decorated pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, with whom she made many exploratory flights. Raised in Englewood, New Jerse ...

Ruth Gordon Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress, playwright and screenwriter. She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, Gordon gained internati ...

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

. While in hospital his advice was received by those in the theatrical profession as gospel. Actress and librettist Dorothy Donnelly formed a close friendship with Sheldon, and after he became bedridden often assisted with transcribing, editing, and supporting his work. In May 1915 Sheldon narrowly missed sailing on the ''

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

s infamous last voyage. He had been asked by theater impresario

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Frohman produced over 700 shows, and among his biggest hits was '' Peter Pan'', both ...

to accompany him to England. A Harvard classmate of Sheldon's was getting married on May 11 and asked Sheldon to be best man. Sheldon then declined Frohman's offer. A 1936 lawsuit against

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

for copyright infringement claimed that the script MGM used for the 1932 motion picture '' Letty Lynton'' plagiarized material from the play ''Dishonored Lady'' by Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes. After being heard before various courts, the case ended up before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

as '' Sheldon v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corp.''; in 1940 the Supreme Court awarded a fifth of the profits. The film is still unavailable today because of this lawsuit. His life is detailed in ''The Man Who Lived Twice'' by Eric Wollencott Barnes. In this biography Barnes states that Sheldon was in love all his adult life with

Doris Keane Doris Keane (December 12, 1881 – November 25, 1945) was an American actress, primarily in live theatre. Early life and family Keane was born in Michigan to Joseph Keane and Florence Winter. She was educated privately in Chicago, New York, Pa ...

, the actress who starred in ''Romance'' in 1913.

Plays

* ''Salvation Nell'' (1908), made into the 1915,

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 ...

, and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

motion pictures of the same name * '' The Nigger'' (1909), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name (aka ''The New Governor'' or ''The Mystery of Morrow's Rest'') produced by William Fox * ''The Boss'' (1911), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name * ''The High Road'' (1912), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name * '' Romance'' (1913), notable for its London run of 1,049 performances. Made into a 1920 silent film by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

starring Doris Keane, the actress who appeared in the role on stage. Also made into a 1930 motion picture starring

. Produced in New York as a musical, ''My Romance'', with music by

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his Musical theatre, musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moo ...

and book and lyrics by Rowland Leigh, in 1948. * ''

The Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, it is erotic poe ...

'' (1914), dramatization of the novel by

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai, in southwestern ...

, made into films in 1918 (''

''), 1924 ('' Lily of the Dust''), and in 1933 (''

'', starring

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

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, and Lionel Atwill) * ''The Garden of Paradise'' (1914), from "

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

" by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

* '' The Call of Her People'' (1916), a silent film for Ethel Barrymore, from Sheldon's own play ''Egypt''. * ''The Jest'' (1919), adaptation from the Italian of Sem Benelli * ''The Czarina'' (1922), adaptation of the Hungarian play by Melchior Lengyel and

Lajos Bíró Lajos Bíró (; born Lajos Blau; 22 August 1880 – 9 September 1948) was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. Life He was born in Nagyvárad, Kingdom of Hunga ...

, made into the 1924 silent '' Forbidden Paradise'' with

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienn ...

. * ''Bewitched'' (1924), with

Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for '' Gone with the Wind'' ...

* ''Lulu Belle'' (1926), with Charles MacArthur, starring Lenore Ulric; made into the 1948 motion picture of the same name, starring

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the ''Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing C ...

* ''My Princess'' (1927), with

Luis Alberni Luis Alberni (October 4, 1886 – December 23, 1962) was a Spanish-born American character actor of stage and films. Early years Alberni was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 4, 1886. He acted in stock theater for four years in Marseille ...

* ''Jenny'' (1929), with Margaret Ayer Barnes * ''Dishonored Lady'' (1930), with Barnes, made into the 1947 motion picture of the same name, starring Hedy Lamarr and directed by Robert Stevenson (alternate title ''Sins of Madeleine'')

References

* Barnes, Eric. ''The Man Who Lived Twice''. New York: Scribner, 1956.

External links

* * * *
''Harvard Magazine'' article, with portrait
*
Correspondence with Edward Sheldon
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Edward 1886 births 1946 deaths Writers from Chicago 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Harvard College alumni American male dramatists and playwrights