Jean Kerr

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Jean Kerr (born Bridget Jean Collins; July 10, 1922<ref name="nyt"/> – January 5, 2003)Template:Efn was an American author and playwright who authored the 1957 bestseller Please Don't Eat the DaisiesTemplate:Efn and the plays King of Hearts in 1954 and Mary, Mary in 1961.

Early life and educationEdit

Kerr was born on July 10, 1922,<ref name="wilson"/> in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrant parents Tom and Kitty Collins,<ref name="vallance"/> and grew up on Electric Street in Scranton.<ref name="marriage"/><ref name="proquest"/> She attended Marywood Seminary, the topic of her humorous short story "When I was Queen of the May." She received a bachelor's degree from Marywood College in Scranton and attended The Catholic University of America, where she received her master's degree in 1945.<ref name="nyt"/>

A nun at Marywood persuaded her to drop her first name, because "only Irish washerwomen are named Biddie".<ref name="mulligan"/>

CareerEdit

Template:Quote box The Kerrs worked together on several projects, including a 1946 adaptation of the novel, The Song of Bernadette.<ref name="crosland"/> They contributed lyrics and sketches to the musical Touch and Go, and co-authored Goldilocks (1958), a Broadway musical comedy about the early days of silent film that ran from October 11, 1958, to February 28, 1959, and won two Tony Awards, for Best Actress in a Featured Role (Pat Stanley) and Best Actor in a Featured Role (Russell Nype).<ref name="tony"/><ref name="nyt"/>

The Kerrs also collaborated on the Tony Award-winning King of Hearts (1954), which ran for 279 performances; he directed the play that she co-wrote with Eleanor Brooke.<ref name="nyt"/> King of Hearts was adapted for the screen in 1956 under the title That Certain Feeling. The film starred Bob Hope.

Jean Kerr wrote Jenny Kissed Me, which was produced in December 1948. She wrote the hit comedy Mary, Mary, which ran on Broadway from 1961 through 1964, for more than 1500 performances, and was brought to the screen under the same title in a 1963 film, starring Debbie Reynolds and Barry Nelson, which was a big hit.<ref name="playbill"/><ref name="nyt"/>

She wrote sketches for John Murray Anderson's Almanac.<ref name="nyt"/> Her book Please Don't Eat the Daisies was a big success, and it was made into a feature film in 1960.<ref name="trailer"/> NBC also produced a 58-episode situation comedy starring Pat Crowley from 1965 to 1967, based on the book<ref name="nyt"/><ref name="intro"/> She then wrote The Snake Has All the Lines in 1960.<ref name="nyt"/>

Kerr's play Finishing Touches ran from February to July 1973. Her other works include the plays Poor Richard (1964) and Lunch Hour (1980). She also wrote the books Penny Candy (1970) and How I Got to Be Perfect (1978). Her last play, Lunch Hour, was staged in 1980, and featured Sam Waterson and Gilda Radner.<ref name="crosland"/> Kerr was skeptical of casting Radner in the play, but Mike Nichols persuaded her to watch Gilda Live, and Kerr was won over by her performance in the film, and she was offered the part.<ref name="stone"/>

Kerr was known to author her manuscripts and articles in longhand, and more than often, they were written in the family car,<ref name="mulligan"/> and her husband then typed them.<ref name="oliver"/> American author Ernest K. Gann wrote in his book Twilight for the Gods, that "anyone who reads it [Please Don't Eat the Daisies], will consider it the most reasonable thing in the world that she prefers to do her writing seated in an automobile and parked two blocks away from her Larchmont, New York, home".<ref name="gann"/>

American cartoonist Dick Hodgins Jr. drew a caricature of Kerr in 1963, which was featured in several newspapers at the time.<ref name="wisconsin"/>

Personal lifeEdit

Kerr was married to New York drama critic Walter Kerr; they were married on August 16, 1943.<ref name="marriage"/> The marriage lasted until his death in 1996.<ref name="nyt"/> The couple had six children; Christopher, twins Colin and John, Gilbert, Gregory, and Kitty.<ref name="playbill"/><ref name="oliver"/>

The Kerrs bought a house in New Rochelle, New York, and later settled in Larchmont, New York in 1955.<ref name="larchmont"/> Their house in Larchmont was frequently characterized in her writings; it featured a two-story fireplace, turrets, a medieval courtyard, and a 32-bell carillon which played the duet from the opera Carmen at noon every day.<ref name="oliver"/>Template:Efn The house was previously owned by Charles King, who test drove Henry Ford's first car.<ref name="mulligan"/>

She died of pneumonia in White Plains, New York in 2003.<ref name="nyt"/>

BooksEdit

Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1957)<ref name="crosland"/>
The Snake Has All the Lines (1960)<ref name="crosland"/>
Penny Candy (1970)<ref name="crosland"/>
How I Got to Be Perfect (1979)<ref name="crosland"/>

PlaysEdit

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The Song of Bernadette (1946)<ref name="crosland"/>
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1946)<ref name="hearts"/>
Jenny Kissed Me (1948)<ref name="crosland"/>
Touch-and-Go (1949)<ref name="crosland"/>
John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953)
King of Hearts (1954)<ref name="crosland"/>
Goldilocks: A Musical (1958)<ref name="crosland"/>
Mary, Mary (1961)<ref name="playbill"/>
Poor Richard (1964)<ref name="crosland"/>
Finishing Touches (1973)<ref name="crosland"/>
Lunch Hour (1980)<ref name="crosland"/>

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NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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