Editing Edward Sheldon (section)

{{Short description|American dramatist}}
{{Hatnote|For others with the same name, see [[Edward Sheldon (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
 | name        = Edward Sheldon
 | image       = Edward Sheldon cph.3b12047.jpg
 | imagesize   = 
 | caption     = Edward Sheldon in 1914
 | pseudonym   =
 | birth_date  = {{birth date|mf=y|1886|2|4}}
 | birth_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
 | death_date  = {{death date and age|mf=y|1946|4|1|1886|2|4}} ([[lymphatic cancer]])
 | death_place = [[New York City, New York]], U.S.
 | occupation  = playwright
 | nationality = American
 | alma_mater  = [[Harvard College]]
 | period      = 
 | genre       = 
 | subject     = 
 | movement    = 
 | influences  = 
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 | signature   = 
 | website     = 
 | other names     =
}}

'''Edward Brewster Sheldon''' (February 4, 1886, in [[Chicago, Illinois]] – April 1, 1946, in [[New York City]]) was an American dramatist. His plays include ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and ''[[Romance (Sheldon play)|Romance]]'' (1913), which was made into a motion picture with [[Greta Garbo]].

After becoming ill at age 29 with crippling [[rheumatoid arthritis]], which eventually claimed his sight (around 1930), Sheldon became a source of emotional and creative support for his many friends, notably [[Mrs. Fiske|Minnie Maddern Fiske]] (he wrote ''Salvation Nell'' for her), [[Julia Marlowe]], [[John Barrymore]] (his closest friend and confidante), [[Thornton Wilder]], [[Alexander Woollcott]], [[Anne Morrow Lindbergh]], [[Ruth Gordon]], [[Helen Hayes]]. 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 ''[[RMS Lusitania|Lusitania]]'''s infamous last voyage. He had been asked by theater impresario [[Charles Frohman]] 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]] 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]] as ''[[Sheldon v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corp.]]''; in 1940 the Supreme Court awarded a fifth of the profits.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-sheldon-v-metro-goldwyn-pictures-corp-516075975 |title=Sheldon v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corp. (1940) - 309 U.S. 390, 60 S. Ct. 681 (1940) |publisher=[[LexisNexis]]}}</ref> The film is still unavailable today because of this lawsuit.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

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

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| image1    = Scene from The High Road by Edward Sheldon 1912.jpg
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| caption1  = [[Mrs. Fiske|Minnie Maddern Fiske]] and Frederick Perry in ''The High Road'' (1912)
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| image2    = Romance (1920) - Sydney & Keane.jpg
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| caption2  = [[Basil Sydney]] and [[Doris Keane]] in the [[Romance (1920 film)|film ''Romance'']] (1920)
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