Harvey Hatcher Hughes (12 February 1881, Polkville, North Carolina – 19 October 1945,

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 playwright. He was on the teaching staff of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 1912 onward. He was awarded the 1926

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for his 1923 play '' Hell-Bent Fer Heaven''.

Early life and education

He was the tenth of eleven children of Andrew Jackson Hughes and Martha Jane Gold Hughes. He received both his undergraduate degree (1907) and master's degree (1909) in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Career

''Hell-bent fer Heaven'' (1923) was performed 128 times at the Klaw Theater (which later became the Avon and then CBS Theater #2). The play starred multiple

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

and

winner

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the ...

(author of ''The Pajama Game'', ''Fiorello'', and ''Damn Yankees'') and

Clara Blandick Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress who portrayed Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, ...

(who played Auntie Em in ''The Wizard of Oz''). It won a Pulitzer Prize was made into a movie in 1926. Hughes was a professor at

. His detailed correspondence is kept in the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

archives.

Family

In 1930 he married Janet Ranney Cool. The marriage produced a daughter, Ann Ranney Hughes. During the First World War, he served as an Army captain. He and his family divided their time between their home in New York City and their farm in

West Cornwall, Connecticut West Cornwall is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is on the west side of the town, on the east side of the Housatonic River, which forms the bo ...

Works

* ''A Marriage Made in Heaven'' (1918) * ''Wake Up, Jonathan!'' (with

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays '' The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

, 1921) * '' Hell-Bent Fer Heaven'' (1923), made into the 1926 motion picture of the same name * ''Ruint'' (1920) * ''It's a Grand Life'' (1930) * ''The Lord Blesses the Bishop'' (co-author, 1934)

External links

Hughes' papers at the University of North Carolina Archives
* *

References

External links

* 1881 births 1945 deaths Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners People from Cleveland County, North Carolina Writers from North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Columbia University faculty American military personnel of World War I 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters {{US-dramatist-stub