Eleanor Gates (26 September 1874 – 7 March 1951) was an American playwright who created seven plays that were staged on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. Her best known work was the play ''The Poor Little Rich Girl'', which was produced by her husband in 1913 and went on to be made as films for

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

in 1917 and for

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in 1936.

Biography

Eleanor Gates was born on 26 September 1874 in

Shakopee, Minnesota Shakopee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of Minneap ...

, southwest of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. While she was an infant her family moved to the Jim River Valley of South Dakota where they ran a cattle ranch. She later described her early life in her novel ''The Biography of a Prairie Girl''. Gates married another playwright,

Richard Walton Tully Richard Walton Tully (May 7, 1877 – February 1, 1945) was an American playwright. Biography Tully was born on May 7, 1877, in Nevada City, California. Tully was married to another playwright Eleanor Gates until he divorced her in 1914. His ...

, in 1901 after they had both completed their studies at the University of California, in Berkeley. Gates had worked initially as a writer for a newspaper in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, as well as writing novels. On 1906 she spoke out in

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

about the problem of unwanted sexual advances made to women and girls when travelling. In the following issue she continued the theme highlighting the problem in how it effected working women in particular. In 1907, one of her novels was illustrated by

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

. Her best known work was the play ''

The Poor Little Rich Girl ''The Poor Little Rich Girl'' is a 1917 American comedy-drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur. Adapted by Frances Marion from the 1913 play by Eleanor Gates. The Broadway play actually starred future screen actress Viola Dana. The film st ...

'', which was produced by her husband in 1913. In 1914 T''he New York Times'' published a story about her idea that there should be places where working women and their children could stay. Tully divorced her in 1914 citing desertion, which Gates admitted. Before Gates's divorce had been finalized, she married another divorcé, the novelist

Frederick Ferdinand Moore Frederick Ferdinand Moore (24 December 1881 – 16 January 1947) was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, editor, publisher, soldier and war correspondent. His first novel ''The Devil's Admiral'' was inspired by his exten ...

, in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the time they both said they intended to remarry when it could be arranged. They never re-married but lived together and collaborated on works until the early 1930s At the beginning of 1915, Gates founded the ''Liberty Feature Film Company'', which was said by ''Motion Picture News'' to be the only film company to be owned and managed by women. The company was led by the wife of an Alaskan businessman, Sadir Lindblom. In the year that it existed, the company created several two reel films. The first film, produced in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

, was ''

'', which starred

starred in the 1936 remake of the same name. The film story, created to cash in on the talents of the eight-year-old Temple and the rights to the "changing places" story, was obtained for $40,000 to Gates and an additional $20,000 to Mary Pickford's company which had made the 1917 film. The new film had made two million dollars by the end of 1939. Gates was struck down near her home by an automobile and died on 7 March 1951 in Los Angeles County General Hospital.

Works

left, An illustration by Arthur Rackham for her 1907 novel, Good-Night, 198x198px *''The Biography of a Prairie Girl'', 1902 *''The Plow-Woman'', 1906, adapted for 1917 film *''Good-night: (Buenas Noches)'', 1907 - illustrated by

*''The Poor Little Rich Girl'' (play in three acts), 1912 *''Doc'' - 1914 film *''Swat the Fly'', 1915 *''Apron-Strings'', 1917 *''Piggie'', 1919 *''

Cupid the Cowpuncher ''Cupid the Cowpuncher'' is a 1920 American western comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and written by Edfrid A. Bingham. It is based on the 1907 novel ''Cupid: The Cow-Punch'' by Eleanor Gates. The film stars Will Rogers, Helene Chadwi ...

'', 1920 film based on her story *''The Rich Little Poor Boy'', 1922 *''Once to Every Man'', 1934 film - written with

George Waggner George Waggner (September 7, 1894 – December 11, 1984) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for producing and directing the 1941 film '' The Wolf Man''. For some unknown reason, Waggner sometimes configured his ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Eleanor 1874 births 1951 deaths People from Shakopee, Minnesota Writers from Los Angeles University of California, Berkeley alumni Stanford University alumni Writers from Minnesota Writers from New York (state) American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers Road incident deaths in California Pedestrian road incident deaths