Editing Edward Sheldon

{{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     = 
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}}

'''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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==Plays==
* ''Salvation Nell'' (1908), made into the 1915, [[Salvation Nell (1921 film)|1921]], and [[Salvation Nell (1931 film)|1931]] 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 (producer)|William Fox]]
* ''The Boss'' (1911), made into the [[The Boss (1915 film)|1915 motion picture of the same name]]
* ''The High Road'' (1912), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name
* ''[[Romance (Sheldon play)|Romance]]'' (1913), notable for its London run of 1,049 performances. Made into a [[Romance (1920 film)|1920 silent film]] by [[United Artists]] starring Doris Keane, the actress who appeared in the role on stage. Also made into a [[Romance (1930 film)|1930 motion picture]] starring [[Greta Garbo]]. Produced in New York as a musical, ''My Romance'', with music by [[Sigmund Romberg]] and book and lyrics by [[Rowland Leigh]], in 1948.
* ''[[The Song of Songs (play)|The Song of Songs]]'' (1914), dramatization of the novel by [[Hermann Sudermann]], made into films in 1918 (''[[The Song of Songs (1918 film)|The Song of Songs]]''), 1924 (''[[Lily of the Dust]]''), and in 1933 (''[[The Song of Songs (1933 film)|The Song of Songs]]'', starring [[Marlene Dietrich]], [[Brian Aherne]], and [[Lionel Atwill]])
* ''The Garden of Paradise'' (1914), from "[[The Little Mermaid]]" by [[Hans Christian Andersen]]
* ''[[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]], made into the 1924 silent ''[[Forbidden Paradise]]'' with [[Pola Negri]].
* ''Bewitched'' (1924), with [[Sidney Howard]]
* ''Lulu Belle'' (1926), with [[Charles MacArthur]], starring [[Lenore Ulric]]; made into the [[Lulu Belle (film)|1948 motion picture of the same name]], starring [[Dorothy Lamour]]
* ''My Princess'' (1927),  with [[Luis Alberni]]
* ''Jenny'' (1929), with [[Margaret Ayer Barnes]]
* ''Dishonored Lady'' (1930), with Barnes, made into the [[Dishonored Lady|1947 motion picture of the same name]], starring [[Hedy Lamarr]] and directed by [[Robert Stevenson (director)|Robert Stevenson]] (alternate title ''Sins of Madeleine'')

==References==
* Barnes, Eric. ''The Man Who Lived Twice''. New York: Scribner, 1956. {{OCLC|458626002}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Edward Sheldon}}
{{Portal|Biography}}

* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edward Sheldon |sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author |id=7204}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0791017|name=Edward Sheldon}}
* [http://harvardmagazine.com/2001/03/edward-sheldon.html ''Harvard Magazine'' article, with portrait]
* {{Find a Grave|8970731}}
* [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou00667 Correspondence with Edward Sheldon] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20111121125844/http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/ Houghton Library], Harvard University

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Edward}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Chicago]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]]