S.N. Behrman(1893-1973)
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
The playwright, screenwriter, essayist, raconteur and consummate wit
Samuel Nathaniel Behrman became known as Broadway's pre-eminent author
of sophisticated high comedy. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son
of a devout Jewish grocer, he grew up in fairly impoverished
circumstances. He attended Clark College from 1912 but was suspended
two years later for refusing to participate in compulsory physical
education classes. Undeterred, Behrman enrolled at Harvard, studied
drama at "47 Workshop" and English under Professor Charles Townsend
Copeland, eventually publishing and selling (for $15) his first story
"La Vie Parisienne". Having earned his bachelor's degree he moved to
New York to further hone his writing skills. With the financial backing of his older
brothers he was able to complete his M.A. at Columbia University in
1918. He then took on a position with The Times where he was put in
charge of the Book Review 'queries and answers' section. Bored, he left
this job and for the next few years "lived from hand to typewriter"
near Times Square, turning out short stories and magazine articles.
Behrman was on the verge of accepting a teaching position at the
University of Minnesota in 1926 when he was persuaded by a friend to
write his first play, "The Second Man". Initially rejected by the
Theatre Guild's script reader, this three-act comedy was brought to the
attention of producer Lawrence Langner
who recognised its potential. Starring
Alfred Lunt and
Lynn Fontanne, it did indeed become an
instant success on Broadway and was equally lauded in London with
Noël Coward in the lead role as the
second-rate novelist Clark Storey. Many English theatre-goers
at the time became convinced that Coward himself had written the piece
under the pseudonym 'S.N. Behrman'. After "The Second Man" came other
hits, including "Brief Moment " (1931), "Biography" (1932) and "End of
Summer" (1936). The latter -- a satire on inherited wealth -- firmly established
Behrman as a master of ironic, cosmopolitan drawing room comedy. His
plays were invariably populated by larger-than-life characters,
possessed of mordant wit and intellect and enacted by top stars
of the stage. They also usually tended to be rather
well-heeled. As the actor Hiram Sherman
once pointed out: "even his bums are affluent" (NY Times, Sept.10,
1973).
Inevitably, Behrman was invited by Hollywood to adapt some of his own
work for the screen (specifically,
Brief Moment (1933) and
The Pirate (1948)). His talent for dialogue was also gainfully employed via contributions to
such literary classics as
Queen Christina (1933),
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934),
Anna Karenina (1935) and
A Tale of Two Cities (1935).
First signed with Fox (1930-33), Behrman spent the majority of his time
at MGM (1933-37 and 1939-41) where he became
Greta Garbo's favourite screenwriter. His
last noteworthy effort for the studio was the script for the epic
Quo Vadis (1951), co-written with
John Lee Mahin and his frequent
collaborator Sonya Levien.
Behrman published his first novel "The Burning Glass" in 1968.
However, his interests now veered increasingly towards biographical work.
He wrote several profiles of famous personalities for The New
Yorker, including one of his late friend
George Gershwin. Two biographies (one of
the influential British antiques dealer Sir Joseph Duveen and another
of the caricaturist and dandy Sir
Max Beerbohm) were compiled in book form,
respectively in 1952 and 1960. Behrman died in New York in September 1973 at the age of eighty.
Samuel Nathaniel Behrman became known as Broadway's pre-eminent author
of sophisticated high comedy. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son
of a devout Jewish grocer, he grew up in fairly impoverished
circumstances. He attended Clark College from 1912 but was suspended
two years later for refusing to participate in compulsory physical
education classes. Undeterred, Behrman enrolled at Harvard, studied
drama at "47 Workshop" and English under Professor Charles Townsend
Copeland, eventually publishing and selling (for $15) his first story
"La Vie Parisienne". Having earned his bachelor's degree he moved to
New York to further hone his writing skills. With the financial backing of his older
brothers he was able to complete his M.A. at Columbia University in
1918. He then took on a position with The Times where he was put in
charge of the Book Review 'queries and answers' section. Bored, he left
this job and for the next few years "lived from hand to typewriter"
near Times Square, turning out short stories and magazine articles.
Behrman was on the verge of accepting a teaching position at the
University of Minnesota in 1926 when he was persuaded by a friend to
write his first play, "The Second Man". Initially rejected by the
Theatre Guild's script reader, this three-act comedy was brought to the
attention of producer Lawrence Langner
who recognised its potential. Starring
Alfred Lunt and
Lynn Fontanne, it did indeed become an
instant success on Broadway and was equally lauded in London with
Noël Coward in the lead role as the
second-rate novelist Clark Storey. Many English theatre-goers
at the time became convinced that Coward himself had written the piece
under the pseudonym 'S.N. Behrman'. After "The Second Man" came other
hits, including "Brief Moment " (1931), "Biography" (1932) and "End of
Summer" (1936). The latter -- a satire on inherited wealth -- firmly established
Behrman as a master of ironic, cosmopolitan drawing room comedy. His
plays were invariably populated by larger-than-life characters,
possessed of mordant wit and intellect and enacted by top stars
of the stage. They also usually tended to be rather
well-heeled. As the actor Hiram Sherman
once pointed out: "even his bums are affluent" (NY Times, Sept.10,
1973).
Inevitably, Behrman was invited by Hollywood to adapt some of his own
work for the screen (specifically,
Brief Moment (1933) and
The Pirate (1948)). His talent for dialogue was also gainfully employed via contributions to
such literary classics as
Queen Christina (1933),
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934),
Anna Karenina (1935) and
A Tale of Two Cities (1935).
First signed with Fox (1930-33), Behrman spent the majority of his time
at MGM (1933-37 and 1939-41) where he became
Greta Garbo's favourite screenwriter. His
last noteworthy effort for the studio was the script for the epic
Quo Vadis (1951), co-written with
John Lee Mahin and his frequent
collaborator Sonya Levien.
Behrman published his first novel "The Burning Glass" in 1968.
However, his interests now veered increasingly towards biographical work.
He wrote several profiles of famous personalities for The New
Yorker, including one of his late friend
George Gershwin. Two biographies (one of
the influential British antiques dealer Sir Joseph Duveen and another
of the caricaturist and dandy Sir
Max Beerbohm) were compiled in book form,
respectively in 1952 and 1960. Behrman died in New York in September 1973 at the age of eighty.