“Excuse my dust.”
DORO PARK The Great American Writer Series
OTHY KER was an Ameri– June 7, 1967) 93 18 , 22 her t us ug , best known for Dorothy Parker (A critic and satirist r, ite wr e y th or In st . t es or can poet, sh ntur y urban foibl d eye for 20th ce views, poetry, wit, wisecracks, an e writing book re m fa to e m s ca er rk w Yorker. She wa 1920s, Dorothy Pa magazine The Ne g lin r dg fo s fle r ou fo m n fa nd Table,” and shor t fictio nquin Hotel’s “Rou go Al e th of re tu also a fix nter. t debates and ba hosting the witties
ALGONQUIN ROUN
D TABLE YEARS
atre criticism for ile she was writing the Her career took off wh stand-in for the an to do in 1918 as a Vanity Fair, which she beg met Robert she , ouse. At the magazine vacationing P. G. Wodeh Sherwood. E. ert Rob and a close friend, Benchley, who became on a near-daily at the Algonquin Hotel The trio began lunching Algonquin Round nding members of the basis and became fou mbers the newsnumbered among its me Table. The Round Table xander Woollcott. Ale and in Pierce Adams paper columnists Frankl s and short versof her lunchtime remark Through their re-printing Tower,” Dorothy ’ column “The Conning es, par ticularly in Adams One of her most . wit ional reputation as a began developing a nat informed that was up gro made when the famous comments was ker remarked, “How Coolidge had died; Par former president Calvin initially proved ’s caustic wit as a critic could they tell?” Parker ity Fair in 1920 Van by ntually terminated popular, but she was eve ers too often. duc pro l erfu an to offend pow after her criticisms beg ed in protest. ey and Sherwood resign In solidarity, both Benchl 1925, Parker nded The New Yorker in When Harold Ross fou ablished by est s” t of a “board of editor and Benchley were par t piece for the firs ’s ker Par . of his investors Ross to allay concerns became famous its second issue. Parker magazine appeared in about the perhumorous poems, many for her short, viciously essful) romantic ucc uns her many (largely ceived ludicrousness of of suicide. The eal app the g ly considerin affairs and others wistful productivity and ker’s greatest period of next 15 years were Par e 300 poems alone she published som success. In the 1920s
ning Tower” and The ity Fair, Vogue, “The Con and free verses in Van Republic. Parker New The Life, McCall’s and New Yorker as well as e, in 1926. The e of poetry, Enough Rop published her first volum ressive reviews. copies and garnered imp collection sold 47,000 salty humor, a h verse as “caked wit The Nation described her a bright black h wit red disillusion, and tar rough with splinters of New York Times’ some critics, notably the authenticity.” Although ” the volume work as “flapper verse, reviewer, dismissed her wit. Parker reng reputation for sparkli helped cement Parker’s 28) and Death (19 Gun set es of verse, Sun leased two more volum lections Laments with the short story col and Taxes (1931), along 33). Not So After Such Pleasures (19 for the Living (1930) and al previously teri ma collected much of the Deep as a Well (1936) d her fiction ase ele re-r she and Death and published in Rope, Gun Here Lies. in 1939 under the title with a few new pieces onquinite George Alg ow fell h wit ted ora In 1924, Parker collab ss. She next coline t play, Business is Bus S. Kaufman on a one-ac se Harmony. The Clo ate cre t Elmer Rice to laborated with playwrigh and was favorably in out-of-town previews play was well received t 24 perforclosed after a run of jus reviewed in New York but ring production tou l r, become a successfu mances. It did, howeve ’s most popular ker Par of e y Next Door. Som under the title The Lad form of acerbic book The New Yorker in the work was published in r response to “Constant Reader” (he reviews under the byline ner: “Tonstant Cor h ne’s The House at Poo the whimsy of A. A. Mil Weader fwowed up.”).
, e r u t l u c i t r o h a d a “You can le ” . k n i h t r e h e k a but you can’t m
HOLLYWOOD
with aspirations Alan Campbell, an actor In 1934, she married f-Jewish and halfLike Parker, he was hal of being a screenwriter. , Parker claimed d to be bisexual—indeed Scottish. He was repute pair moved to The t”. eer as a billy goa in public that he was “qu amount Pictures, Par h wit ts ten-week contrac Hollywood and signed ning $250 per also expected to act) ear with Campbell (who was uld eventually wo y g $1,000 per week. The week and Parker earnin 0 per week ,00 $5 of s e instances upward earn $2,000 and in som pbell worked on s studios. She and Cam as freelancers for variou lyrics for the song “I 1936, she contributed more than 15 films. In nger. The song was with music by Ralph Rai Wished on the Moon”, g Crosby. With RobBin by adcast of 1936 introduced in The Big Bro for the 1937 film A ll, she wrote the script ert Carson and Campbe an Academy Award they were nominated for Star is Born, for which itional dialogue for enplay. She wrote add for Best Writing—Scre ar nomination, the and received ano r Osc The Little Foxes in 1941 ry of a Woman, 47’s Smash-Up, the Sto with Frank Cavett, for 19 d. starring Susan Haywar rld War, Parker entered the Second Wo After the United States anthology an e duc pro collaborated to and Alexander Woollcott ss for Pre ing Vik by ed lish a series pub of her work as par t of Somerset by n oductio overseas. With an intr ser vicemen stationed ’s short ker Par of en compiled over two doz Maugham the volume set Gun, Sun e, Rop ugh Eno ed poems from stories along with select ted States in 1944 was released in the Uni and Death and Taxes. It ker’s is one of only table Dorothy Parker. Par under the title The Por
William Shakeies (the other two being three of the Por table ser t. prin in ly to remain continuous speare and The Bible) increasingly an e am bec ker 1940s, Par During the 1930s and l rights, and a like civil liberties and civi vocal advocate of causes the Loyalist on ed in authority. She report frequent critic of those ine in 1937. gaz ma s sse Communist New Ma cause in Spain for the intern agent and z, a covert Soviet Com At the behest of Otto Kat li Muenzenberg, munist Par ty agent Wil operative of German Com gue in 1936. Lea the Hollywood Anti-Nazi Parker helped to found ally grew to ntu eve hip zi League’s members The Hollywood Anti-Na uspecting uns stly mo but lthy ose often wea some 4,000 strong, wh tribute as con “able to words of David Caute, members were, in the working an eric Am Par ty funds as the whole much to [Communist] Resst sci i-Fa Ant t Join ved as chair of the class.” Parker also ser sport tran to p Shi cue Res t anized Projec cue Committee. She org n’s Relief and , headed Spanish Childre xico Me to ns era Loyalist vet anizations. org and other left-wing causes lent her name to many her, with of s les and friends saw less Her former Round Table y strained larl ticu par ng bei ert Benchley her relationship with Rob . Perelman at a oncile). Parker met S.J (although they would rec an called it ‘a pite a rocky start (Perelm par ty in 1932, and des next 35 years, the for y remained friends scarifying ordeal’)—the ped Parker and hel ans elm Per ors when the even becoming neighb , Pennsylvania. wn farm in Bucks County Campbell buy a run-do lication Red Communist by the pub Parker was listed as a ge dossier on -pa 00 FBI compiled a 1,0 Channels in 1950. The
e m t u o b a n e t t i r w s i t a h w e r a c t “I don’ ” . e u r t t ’ n s i t i s a so long
LATER LIFE
ism during ement in Commun r suspected involv he of llywood e Ho us ca the be r he was placed on . As a result, she was lay np ree sc the McCarthy era al fin dio bosses. Her stu vie mo ere’s the blacklist by lde’s Lady Winderm tation of Oscar Wi ap ad s wa 49 ll 19 be a n, mp The Fa r marriage to Ca g Otto Preminger. He sin by rea ted inc ec dir r’s n, Fa erbated by Parke th tensions exac d rrie ma a th wi tempestuous, wi air g-term aff on and Alan’s lon rker moved alcohol consumpti g World War II. Pa rin du e rop Eu s in wa he ile al hotel. wh nti n woma the Volney reside in 1952, living at rk Yo rk City w Yo Ne w to Ne ck to ba returned ll’s death, Parker uld wo e sh , Following Campbe ars ye her later idential hotel. In early notoch su r he and the Volney res ht ug had bro e the group that come to denigrat : ble Ta d un Ro in riety, the Algonqu dayss writing in those nts. Think who wa re the real we e These were no gia os Th y. wa ng mi d, Faulkner and He g jokes and -Lardner, Fitzgeral lot of people tellin a t jus s wa ble Ta d un Ro e loudmouths Th of . h nts nc gia y were. Just a bu the od go w ho er to telling each oth iting for a chance ir gags for days, wa the g vin s the sa wa , It off showing ything they said. was no truth in an ere th.... Th tru ... y m. an the be g sprin re didn’t have to wisecrack, so the the of y da le rib ter ation io, including Inform casionally on rad oc ard he t). s lis wa ne r Parke r (as a regular pa and Author, Autho t) es and gu e a as Ch (as a e Pleas p, and both Ilk Columbia Worksho Parker s. ue log no mo She wrote for the material for radio r he ed us ad he Tallulah Bank
her the age of 73. In a hear t attack at of 67 19 g, Jr. 7, Kin ne r died on Ju Dr. Martin Luthe her estate to the d to the on ea qu ed be ss e pa will, sh , her estate was swing King’s death es llo cc Fo . su on un t ati bu nd ly fou llman, bitter ecutor, Lillian He unclaimed in the NAACP. Her ex r ashes remained He . ion sit po dis s thi cabinet, d ste fully conte ul O’Dwyer’s filing ing her attorney Pa lud inc hy Parks, rot ce Do pla g, us vario ion to her writin 17 years. In addit ly 20s. ate 19 in xim e pro en ap sc y for New York literar the of er mb iter me wr er was a noted und Table with d the Algonquin Ro lle ca up tic gro tis a d ar is She forme bert Sherwood. Th and playwright Ro rker founder Yo w Robert Benchley Ne e Th as r ed such members crowd also includ ywright Edna Ferbe rpo Marx, and pla Ha n dia me the co , out— Harold Ross me from its hang e group took its na Circle for the s iou among others. Th Vic the as n but also also know and their habit of Algonquin Hotel, de by its members ma s ark rem g number of cuttin -tongued banter. ch of engaging in sharp Parker spent mu d 1940s, Dorothy an s 30 th her 19 wi the s g Durin e wrote screenplay od, California. Sh wo ion of lly tat Ho ap in ad e 37 tim her luding the 19 Alan Campbell, inc In her r. teu bo Sa film second husband Alfred Hitchcock 42 19 the d ch an su g rn A Star Is Bo active, suppor tin become politically d ha the e th sh , wi life ed l persona e also was involv for civil rights. Sh to ht led fig t the tha n as tio es cia caus was this asso in the 1930s. It Communist Party ted in Hollywood. her being blacklis
s the sharpes Dorothy Parker wa Round uin nq wit of the Algo ster of ma a as ll we as , Table cklisted bla a d an n short fictio screenwriter.
HONORS POSTHUMOUS
ned a remains and desig P claimed Parker’s adquar ters. he ore ltim Ba In 1988, the NAAC ir the for them outside memorial garden , ds rea The plaque t, 93–1967) humoris Dorothy Parker (18 of ph s ita he ep as r he the r lie Fo Here civil rights. der of human and is dedicated writer, critic. Defen memorial garden is Th . st’ du my se cu nkind and ‘Ex , ma hu ted es of s gg es su she lebrated the onen ce ich wh Jewish d irit an sp to her noble ip between black ncement erlasting friendsh ev va Ad of s the nd bo for n the tio to National Associa the by d ate dic De people. . October 28, 1988 of Colored People. the of Parker’s bir th, 99th anniversar y the e , tiv 92 ora 19 , em 22 mm st On Augu d a 29¢ U.S. co Round stal Service issue in Po qu s on ate Alg St e d Th ite s. Un serie the Literary Ar ts d theatrical greats postage stamp in of other literar y an er mb nu the status as as Table, as well onquin Hotel its lped earn the Alg he signated re, de the so d s ge wa lod who ndmark. The hotel La ric sto erary Hi Lit y l na Cit a New York signated a Natio the hotel was de contrithe on d se ba A in 1987. In 1996 US Friends of Libraries Round Table. The Landmark by the members of the er . oth d an r rke front of the hotel the to butions of Pa d he ac ndmark nze plaque is att La bro ry n’s era tio Lit l iza na an org a Natio s also designated e plaque marks Her bir thplace wa 2005 and a bronz in A US ies rar by Friends of Lib . cters home once stood of fictional chara the spot where the on for a number ati pir Philip ins in e” the s Parker wa luded “Lily Malon her day. These inc Ruth of by ys ed pla ay ral (pl ve rd” se in y Hillia rse (1932), “Mar 2), “Paula Barry’s Hotel Unive s Here Today (193 er’ eim nh pe Op e rected by (di e on tyen Gordon) in Georg 1944 play Over Tw n’s rdo Go in ” Whar ton
-Moss Hart n” in the Kaufman ), and “Julia Glen resentaan rep ufm ’s Ka an S. ufm e Georg ll Along (1934). Ka Ro We ly und rri Ro Me his collaboration led Parker, once “Daisy rrily We Roll Along as Me d in r are he pe of ap n o tio She als , to despise him. Surrounded. Table compatriot 34 novel Entirely 19 tt’s ke ac Br es Dolores Sutton by on isi Lester” in Charl ev tel ayed on film and rtr po en ry Murphy in be ma s se ha She 976), Ro d in Hollywood (1 9), and Jennifer 99 (1 ly Lil in F. Scott Fitzgeral d an Neuwirth in Dash be Be , 994). Neuwirth 7) (1 97 cle (1 Cir ia s Jul r and the Viciou rke Pa s. , and Mr in igh rm Jason Le her perfo ance an Emmy Award for , including a ns tio na mi no was nominated for d s an number of award other figures of the Leigh received a Parker, along with n. tio na mi no featured as a e Golden Glob orge Gershwin, is Gershwin and Ge Ira rsion of Thorve ing al lud sic inc mu era e 12 of the stage en Sc 1, creator t on Ac isi in r lev characte Scene.” Te llie, “Muzzy’s Party any ‘Dorothy mp co on cti oughly Modern Mi du r pro lladino named he Parker. Standup Amy Sherman-Pa ons’ in tribute to cti of du Pro re He k rker in an edition Pa Parker Dran hy rot Do Theater kman portrayed de Kir iga n Br Je n ns dia ize me Cit co right Podcast at the Up the Dead Authors . 11 20 in in Los Angeles