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82-463: The Drama League Awards are the oldest awards honoring theater in North America. The awards were established in 1922, and formalized in 1935. Katharine Cornell was the recipient of the first Distinguished Performance Award in 1935. Seven competitive awards are presented: Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Revival of

164-581: A Musical, the Distinguished Performance Award, and, as of 2022, Outstanding Direction of a Play and Outstanding Direction of a Musical. The Distinguished Performance Award is presented to one performer every year, and the recipient can only receive the award once in his or her career. The Drama League also bestow three special honors at the awards ceremony: Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater, Unique Contribution to

246-462: A company that gave them complete artistic freedom in choosing and producing plays. Their production company gave first or prominent Broadway roles to some of the more notable actors of the 20th century, including many British Shakespearean actors. Cornell is regarded as one of the great actresses of the American theatre. Her most famous role was that of English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning in

328-467: A completely new production. McClintic started over, with just a handful of the actors from the tour. Orson Welles was kept, but played Tybalt instead of Mercutio , making his Broadway debut. Brian Aherne took the part of Mercutio, Basil Rathbone played Romeo, and Edith Evans played the Nurse. McClintic's idea was to keep the play "light, gay, hot sun, spacious" with no hint of the doom that concluded

410-619: A dramatized version of Edith Wharton 's novel The Age of Innocence . Her performance received only positive reviews. After this success, Cornell was offered the lead in The Dishonored Lady . It was intended for Ethel Barrymore , who declined the role. The play is a lurid melodrama about true-life murder in Glasgow, Scotland. Walter Winchell wrote "Never in the history of the theatre has an actress of such distinction permitted such an exciting scene. She [Cornell] actually permits

492-466: A glamorous, atmospheric setting within which a slight story is played—a setting as real as is the Canteen for a story that is old as the hills. … And, besides, some of the acts are pretty good. Crowther praised producer Sol Lesser for creating an illusion of authenticity by casting newcomers to the screen—"anybody's boys and girls … just so many nice kids at the Canteen." He credited the film for catching

574-444: A good play, she "paid it the tribute of tears...Miss Katharine Cornell is a completely lovely Elizabeth Barrett...It is little wonder that Miss Cornell is so worshipped; she has romance, or, if you like better the word of the daily-paper critics, she has glamour." The play ran for 370 performances. When it was announced that it was closing, the remaining performances sold out, and hundreds were turned away. The play's success engendered

656-526: A hit. Afterward, Cornell played in a succession of now-forgotten plays. She married McClintic on September 8, 1921, in her aunt's summer home in Cobourg, Ontario. Cornell's family spent summers there among other wealthy Americans. The couple eventually bought a townhouse at 23 Beekman Place in Manhattan. It is generally acknowledged that Cornell was a lesbian and that McClintic was gay, and their union

738-450: A largely unknown cast. The film was produced by Sol Lesser 's Principal Artists Productions and directed by Frank Borzage . The film features many celebrity cameo appearances but primarily relates a simple drama set in the famed New York City restaurant and nightclub for American and Allied servicemen. Six bands are featured. The score and the original song, "We Mustn't Say Goodbye", were nominated for Academy Awards . Stage Door Canteen

820-400: A long succession of meretricious plays it introduces us to Katharine Cornell as an actress of the first order. Here the disciplined fury that she has been squandering on catch-penny plays becomes the vibrant beauty of finely wrought character.... By the crescendo of her playing, by the wild sensitivity that lurks behind her ardent gestures and her piercing stares across the footlights she charges

902-448: A man to crack her a powerful wallop in the face!" One critic complained about the "fifth rate claptrap" of a play and chastised Cornell for selecting such lowbrow theater as a waste of her talents. Vogue wrote that Cornell does these types of plays because "she prefers...to be blunt, trash of a violent kind." Biographer and playwright Tad Mosel counters that although this is meant as a reproof, when stripped of its condescension, "it

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984-457: A musical revue One for the Money , which starred unknown actors who later achieved fame, including Gene Kelly , Alfred Drake , Keenan Wynn and Nancy Hamilton. Immediately after that closed, Cornell starred in her second comedy, No Time for Comedy by S.N. Behrman . McClintic cast the young Laurence Olivier in the leading role of Gaylord. During rehearsals, Cornell had a difficult time with

1066-698: A performance, and the presenting towns gained a small but welcome swell in revenues from restaurants and hotels as a result. The most famous story to arise out of the tour came when the troupe was to play Barretts on Christmas night in Seattle, McClintic's hometown. They planned to arrive in the morning, and as it normally takes six hours to set up the stage, do lighting and blocking checks and distribute costumes, they figured there would be plenty of time. However, it had been raining for 23 days, and roads and railroads were being washed out. The train moved very slowly, often stopping. The theater management telegraphed that

1148-469: A revival of Maugham's The Constant Wife (1951). Cornell was noted for spurning screen roles, unlike other actresses of her day. She appeared in only one Hollywood film, the World War II morale booster Stage Door Canteen , in which she played herself. She appeared in television adaptations of The Barretts of Wimpole Street and Robert E. Sherwood 's There Shall Be No Night . She also narrated

1230-487: A revival of Robert Browning's poetry, and cocker spaniels became the popular dog that year. Irving Thalberg wanted Cornell to play her part in an MGM adaptation , offering that if she was not completely satisfied with the result, the film would be destroyed. She refused. The movie that was released had most of the original cast, and Thalberg's wife, actress Norma Shearer , played the part of Elizabeth. Cornell refused to act in movies because she had seen audiences laugh at

1312-455: A seven-week tour of five major cities. In Maxwell Anderson 's The Wingless Victory , McClintic decided to avoid the so-called "star entrance," where the audience expects the star of the play to enter grandly to general applause. Instead, he had another character take the star entrance, and only then was it revealed that Cornell was onstage. The effect was startling. Opened in 1936, the play received mixed reviews, and many bad ones, but Cornell

1394-564: A special sort." Her appearances in comedy were infrequent, and praised more widely for their warmth than their wit. When she played in The Constant Wife , critic Brooks Atkinson concluded that she had changed a "hard and metallic" comedy into a romantic drama. Cornell died on June 9, 1974 in Tisbury, Massachusetts, aged 81, and she is buried at on Martha's Vineyard 's Tisbury Village Cemetery, Tisbury, Massachusetts . Cornell

1476-481: A woman who kills her lover. Maugham suggested Cornell for the part. Although the critics were not too excited about the play, Cornell by then had developed a loyal following. The opening night was such a sensation that the New York Sun wrote that the sidewalks were packed with people after the performance straining to catch a glimpse of her. In 1928, Cornell played the lead role of the countess Ellen Olenska in

1558-551: A young theater director. She made her Broadway debut in the play Nice People by Rachel Crothers , in a small part with Tallulah Bankhead . Cornell's first major Broadway role was that of Sydney Fairfield in Clemence Dane's A Bill of Divorcement (1921). The New York Times wrote "[she] has the central and significant role of the play and...gives therein a performance of memorable understanding and beauty." It played for 173 performances, well enough to be considered

1640-556: Is a simple statement of the truth. There was a part of her that indeed preferred trash of a violent kind. Her integrity as an artist was the only defense such a preference needed. Every performance had to be as much a revelation of herself as it was an interpretation of a role, and therefore her choice of roles and the way she played them offer great insights into her nature, greater perhaps than can be inferred from her gracious, smiling, always agreeable, and increasingly guarded behavior offstage. One must look at her performances as one looks at

1722-628: Is in the public domain in North America and for this reason is widely available in many DVD and VHS releases of varying quality. The film, made in wartime , celebrates the work of the Stage Door Canteen, created in New York City as a recreational center for both American and Allied servicemen on leave to socialize with, be entertained or served by Broadway celebrities. The storyline follows several women who volunteer for

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1804-408: Is then informed that Elizabeth has taken the dog with her. The play has several difficulties. The lead role of Elizabeth has to be played initially as submissive to her father, yet as the center of attention throughout. Although the ending is happy for Elizabeth and Robert, the rest of the family remains under the domination of the father, who is deranged in his obsession. Elizabeth must be played for

1886-497: Is to do away with all excesses and embellishments, to bring an interpretation to its utmost simplicity. Margot Stevenson from the original cast later said that Cornell was "just this big Italian girl in love!" Stark Young wrote in The New Republic : She makes you believe in love, that Juliet loves, and that the diapason and poetry of love are the reward for its torment. Of various [other] Juliets this must have been one of

1968-541: The original song , "We Mustn't Say Goodbye", by James V. Monaco (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). Bosley Crowther , film critic for The New York Times , prefaced his remarks on the film by stating his aversion to the contemporary trend toward all-star spectacles, which he called "cheap showmanship": But for once, we've got to make a frank concession. As done in Stage Door Canteen this parading of show-world notables has some real dramatic point. It shapes

2050-570: The "brutal tyranny of passion" and "the lowest urge of the body". His smothering concern for his family—particularly for Elizabeth, who is an invalid—takes on a sinister character. Poet Robert Browning has read some of Elizabeth's poetry and comes to meet her, and they immediately are attracted to each other. When he leaves, Elizabeth struggles to her feet to watch him disappear down the lane. Elizabeth and Robert later elope, and when her father finds that she has married without his permission or knowledge, he orders that her beloved dog, Flush, be killed. He

2132-515: The 1931 Broadway production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street . Other appearances on Broadway included in W. Somerset Maugham 's The Letter (1927), Sidney Howard 's The Alien Corn (1933), Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1934), Maxwell Anderson 's The Wingless Victory (1936), S. N. Behrman 's No Time for Comedy (1939), a Tony Award -winning Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (1947), and

2214-625: The American theater, Miss Katharine Cornell." The Green Hat had 231 performances in New York before going to Boston and then a cross-country tour. The play's success spawned a fashion in green hats of the type worn by Cornell in the play. Later, Tallulah Bankhead played the role of Iris March in a less successful London production, and Greta Garbo played the role in a 1928 film adaptation, A Woman of Affairs . She starred in 1927 in The Letter , by W. Somerset Maugham , as Leslie Crosbie,

2296-463: The Bell Tolls . Additionally, many of her roles in hit plays were successfully played by other great actresses, or were adapted as movies. As audiences were deserting live theater for the movies, Cornell became determined to stay in the theater in order to help keep it vibrant. After Barretts closed, Cornell played leading parts in two plays: Lucrece (1932), Thornton Wilder 's translation of

2378-566: The Bonstelle company to London to play Jo March in Buffalo play-wright Marian de Forest 's stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott 's novel Little Women . Although the critics disparaged the play itself, they specifically noted Cornell as the one bright spot of the evening. The paper The Englishwomen wrote of Cornell: "London is unanimous in its praise, and London will flock to see her." Upon her return to New York, she met Guthrie McClintic ,

2460-811: The Buffalo Studio Club parlor theater, located at 508 Franklin Street. She loved athletics, and she was a runner-up for city championship at tennis as well as an amateur swimming champion. She attended the University of Buffalo (later the State University of New York at Buffalo). . In 1913, she joined The Garret Club, a woman's only private club in Buffalo, and participated in club theatricals. After Cornell had become famous, she often brought her productions to her native Buffalo. Although she never returned to Buffalo to live, her enthusiasm for

2542-536: The Canteen and must adhere to strict rules of conduct, the most important of which is that their job is to provide friendly companionship to and be dance partners for the (often nervous) men who are soon to be sent into combat. No romantic fraternization is allowed. Eileen is a volunteer who confesses to only becoming involved in the Canteen in order to be discovered by one of the Hollywood stars in attendance. She ultimately falls in love with and becomes engaged to one of

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2624-689: The Theater, and The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. The award statues are designed by New York firm Society Awards . Additionally, an honorary award may be given in the following categories: The Distinguished Performance Award , originally known as the Delia Austrian Medal, was first presented in 1935, to Katharine Cornell for Romeo and Juliet . The first recipient of the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing

2706-508: The University of Berlin. Their first child, Katharine, was born there. Six months later, the family returned to Buffalo, where they lived at 174 Mariner Street. As a child, Katharine had a troubled relationship with her parents due in part to her mother's alcoholism. She play-acted in her backyard with imaginary friends. Soon, she was performing in school pageants and plays, and she watched family productions in her grandfather's attic theater, still standing at 484 Delaware Avenue. Cornell played at

2788-467: The acting of old movies and did not want that to happen to her. According to biographer Tad Mosel, "she did not feel that she was acting for historians or nostalgia fans of the future but for audiences of the here and now, people who came into the theatre tonight, sat in their seats and waited for the curtain to go up. Not only were they the ones she wanted to reach, but she wanted to be there when they responded, she did not want to be off in another part of

2870-475: The balcony was impossible, my costumes were wrong, the lighting went haywire." Martha Graham , who choreographed the dance sequences, stepped in and fashioned a flowing robe for Juliet's balcony-scene costume shortly before curtain time. The production opened a seven-month transcontinental tour that rotated three plays: Romeo and Juliet , The Barretts of Wimpole Street , and Candida . Many theatre experts advised against such an ambitious endeavor, planned during

2952-502: The beauty of the lyric lines she speaks with a new-found lyric beauty of her own voice...To add that it is by all odds the most lovely and enchanting Juliet our present-day theatre has seen is only to toss it the kind of superlative it honestly deserves. Later, the same critic determined that this role was a turning point in Cornell's career, as it meant that she could finally leave the "trifling scripts" of her earlier career and could meet

3034-438: The challenging demands of the greatest classic roles. Romeo and Juliet closed on February 23, 1935, and two nights later, the production company revived The Barretts of Wimpole Street , with Burgess Meredith in his first prominent Broadway role. Critics found that this production had grown richer and more satisfying, but it closed three weeks later because other plays were contracted. The next play, also starring Meredith,

3116-420: The city and its inhabitants was well known. Biographer Tad Mosel wrote: "To show her affection for her hometown, she always walked slowly when she left her hotel, turning her head to smile on everyone on the street, missing no one, so they could feel close to her and be able to say when they got home that night, 'Katharine Cornell smiled directly at me.'" For the rest of her career, on opening Broadway nights, she

3198-466: The comedic timing, and someone shook their head and said, "Poor old Kit!" Olivier shot back, "Poor old Kit is the most successful woman in the American theater! The richest, the most beautiful, the most sought after, the most distinguished, the most loved — Poor old Kit indeed!" Stage Door Canteen (film) Stage Door Canteen is a 1943 American World War II film with musical numbers and other entertainment interspersed with dramatic scenes by

3280-456: The documentary Helen Keller in Her Story , which won an Oscar . Primarily regarded as a tragedienne, Cornell was admired for her refined, romantic presence. One reviewer wrote "Hers is not a robust romanticism, however. It tends toward dark but delicate tints, and the emotion she conveys most aptly is that of an aspiring girlishness which has always been subject to theatrical influences of

3362-551: The drama with a meaning beyond the facts it records. Her acting is quite as remarkable for the carefulness of its design as for the fire of her presence.... The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a triumph for her and the splendid company with which she has surrounded herself. All other critics were uniform in praise of her acting: using adjectives such as superb, eloquent, exalted, dark, rhythmic, luminous, haunting, lyric, ravishing. Dorothy Parker , known for her caustic wit and unsentimental reviews, wrote that although she did not think it

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3444-399: The first half lying still on a sofa wearing heavy Victorian costume, and covered with a blanket, as befitting an invalid. Many, including Lionel Barrymore , who was asked to play the part of the father, thought it was too melodramatic and past its time. The play was turned down by 27 New York producers before McClintic read it and found it so moving, he cried whenever he read it. When McClintic

3526-563: The first time, the carnal desires, the youthful romanticism, and the earthiness of language were given equal importance. The production opened in December 1934, and, as usual, the reviews were glowing. Burns Mantle called Cornell "the greatest Juliet of her time." Taking note of the freshness of approach, Richard Lockridge of the New York Sun wrote that Cornell played Juliet as "an eager child, rushing toward love with arms stretched out." Cornell herself said that her biggest secret of acting

3608-426: The following: Distributed by United Artists , Stage Door Canteen premiered on May 12, 1943, with a run time of 132 minutes. Some modern prints have been trimmed to 93 minutes. Stage Door Canteen was named one of the ten best motion pictures of 1943 in a Film Daily poll of 439 newspaper and radio reviewers. The film received two Academy Award nominations—for the original score by Fred Rich , and for

3690-496: The generous spirit of show people wishing to do their part to help win the war. "As a general rule," he concluded, "this writer is depressed by a bandwagon of stars. But this is one time when the spectacle really brings a lump of pride to the throat." All proceeds, after Lesser's 8.5 percent, were donated to the American Theatre Wing and its allied charities. The film was such a success at the boxoffice that Lesser

3772-474: The height of the Great Depression . It was the first time anyone had attempted a national tour with a legitimate Broadway show, let alone a three-play repertory. The company toured to cities including Milwaukee, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, San Antonio, New Orleans, Houston and Savannah, and up the east coast to New England. As movies had eclipsed

3854-485: The last things to be said." John Mason Brown wrote in the New York Post : It is not often in our lifetime that we are privileged to enjoy the pleasant sensation of feeling that the present and the future have met for a few triumphant hours...Yet it was this very sensation—this uncommon sensation of having the present and future meet; eye-witnessing the kind of event to which we will be looking back with pride in

3936-502: The next day in every newspaper in America. Alexander Woollcott established a radio tradition on his program, The Town Crier . For years afterward, every Christmas, Woollcott told the story of the Seattle audience that waited until 1 am to see Katharine Cornell "emerge from the flood" and give the performance of her life. Although they had toured with this play, Cornell and McClintic decided to open Romeo and Juliet in New York with

4018-635: The only film appearance of Katharine Cornell . It features a performance of " Why Don't You Do Right? " by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, which became the first major hit for singer Peggy Lee . Also featured are a tune by Count Basie and his band with Ethel Waters and two by violinist Yehudi Menuhin . African-American producer Leonard Harper was hired to do the African-American casting in New York City. Of additional cultural note are two segments, one in which Merle Oberon sings

4100-667: The output of a writer or a painter." Katharine Cornell is perhaps best known in her role as poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning in Rudolf Besier 's play The Barretts of Wimpole Street . The play is based on the life of the poet's family; the Barretts lived on Wimpole Street in London. The play opens with Elizabeth, the oldest child of a large and loving family. Their widowed father has become embittered and determined that none of his children should marry, lest they become slaves to

4182-846: The play by André Obey , and Sidney Howard 's Alien Corn (1933). Her success in Lucrece put her on the cover of Time on December 26, 1932. Cornell's next production was Romeo and Juliet , with McClintic directing. It was the first Shakespeare for them both. Romeo was performed by Basil Rathbone , who had played leading roles at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre in England. The production opened in Cornell's native Buffalo on November 29, 1933. Cornell described that day as "a nightmare from start to finish. The sets wouldn't fit,

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4264-483: The play's title in all future productions of the troupe. Another acting troupe, the Theatre Guild , controlled the rights to all Shaw's plays, and thereafter allowed only Cornell to play the role of Candida so long as she was alive, a role which she reprised several more times in her career. Shaw later wrote her a note stating that she had created "an ideal British Candida in my imagination." Cornell's next role

4346-484: The play. Also, he coached Cornell to read for meaning, sense and emotion, in place of the poetics of iambic pentameter. This was a great break with past productions, which up until then had relied upon Victorian prudery and notions of how a classic play should be performed. McClintic reinstated the Prologue and believed that all twenty-three scenes were necessary, cutting only the comedy of the musicians and servants. For

4428-422: The play. Biographer Tad Mosel writes: "The audience had paid the actors the supreme compliment of having the faith to wait for them, and the actors responded with the kind of performance actors wish they could give every day of their lives. When the final curtain fell at 4 am, they received more curtain calls than they ever had." Ray Henderson, the troupe's publicist and manager, managed to get this story published

4510-408: The praises of America's Chinese allies, represented by Chinese airmen, and another in which Sam Jaffe interviews several Soviet officers, one of them female, in both English and Russian. These featured cast members either perform or have extended dialogue in the story. These featured players make brief appearances in the film. Other stage, screen and radio artists making cameo appearances include

4592-484: The screen, necessitating adjustments so basic that she could not make them. And beyond physical equipment...it is possible that the quality she had as an individual, the unique something about her that transcended technique and craft and fifth-rate writing might not have transcended cameras; it would not have come through to an audience without her physical presence." But other sources say that Hollywood secured Broadway plays for its own actors under contract and that Cornell

4674-620: The soldiers. Stage Door Canteen was made under the auspices of the American Theatre Wing . The actual Stage Door Canteen in New York City was a basement club located in the 44th Street Theatre , and it could not be used for the filming as it was too busy receiving servicemen. The settings were recreated at the Fox Movietone Studio in New York and at RKO Pathé Studios in Los Angeles. Stage Door Canteen

4756-451: The stage to a large degree, there were major areas of the U.S. closed off to the tour. Many stops at smaller cities had not seen live theater since World War I, if ever. But box office records were set in most cities and towns. In New Orleans, women rioted when they found out that tickets had sold out. Variety reported that the tour gave 225 performances and played to 500,000 people. People in less urban areas traveled from two days away to see

4838-400: The theater. Sets and props had to be protected in the downpour. As soon as the troupe arrived, the audience streamed back into their seats. Cornell decided that the audience could watch the sets for "Barretts" be unpacked and set up, and so raised the curtain. The stage hands, sound checks, and electricians worked to accomplish in one hour what normally took six. By 1 am, they were ready to begin

4920-558: The time, the play was considered perfect for the group, as none of the characters was considered to outshine the others, because Shaw intended the play to be about ideas. Although the leading protagonist is Candida, she does not really come into her own until the third act. But, Cornell essentially re-envisioned the play. She made Candida the core of the play, a view adopted by directors and critics ever since. Reviews were ecstatic and audiences responded in kind. The Actor's Theatre changed its plans and decided that Cornell's name must appear above

5002-473: The train station, and the manager of the Metropolitan Theatre came up to Cornell and informed her that the audience was still waiting. McClintic asked, "how many?" "The entire house," was the reply, "Twelve hundred people." Cornell was shocked and asked, "Do you mean they want a performance at this hour?" "They're expecting it," the manager replied. All 55 members of the cast and crew drove to

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5084-681: The triumph belonged to two maids, "the Maid of Domrémy , France, and the Maid of Buffalo, N.Y." John Anderson of the New York Journal wrote, "Before there is any haggling, let it be said that it is Shaw's greatest play and that Miss Cornell is superb in it. She is beautiful to look at and her performance is enkindled by the spiritual exaltation of a transcendent heroine." It was in this play that Cornell's real artistry became apparent. Audience members talked of having been "changed" by her performance, and "mesmerized." Writer S.N. Behrman said "it

5166-421: The venue was completely sold out for the evening performance and wanted regular updates to assure the public that the production was on its way. The troupe kept up the telegrams, but eventually these lines gave out. By that evening, the troupe was still far from the city and gave up hope of doing any performance that night. The train finally arrived in Seattle at 11:30 pm. There was a lively crowd waiting for them at

5248-481: The world while they gazed at a second-hand image on a screen. In fact, she was not sure she could give them anything to respond to without the inducement of their presence." Moreover, the largeness of her facial structure—her bone structure—were so explicit that they could be seen to the last row, but "might have been less than an asset on the screen where the camera enlarges and exaggerates. Her voice and gestures were eloquent theatre props that might have been too much for

5330-416: The years to come—that forced its warming way, I suspect, into the consciousness of many of us last night as we sat spellbound. Miss Cornell's Juliet is luscious and charming. It finds her at her mellowest and most glamorous. It burns with the intensity Miss Cornell brings to all her acting. It moves gracefully and lightly; it is endlessly haunting in its pictorial qualities; and reveals a Miss Cornell who equals

5412-1143: Was Daniel J. Sullivan in 2000. Actor Yul Brynner was the first recipient of the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre award in 1985. The Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award was first bestowed in 1982 to the New York Production of Nicholas Nickelby : Bernard Jacobs , Gerald Schoenfeld , James M. Nederlander , Elizabeth McCann , and Nelle Nugent . Source: TheaterMania.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source:Playbill.com Source: Variety List of winners, 1935 through 2014. Katharine Cornell Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974)

5494-623: Was Flowers of the Forest , an anti-war play by John van Druten that lasted only 40 performances and counts among Cornell's greatest failures. For the next season, Cornell and her husband decided to do St. Joan by George Bernard Shaw. McClintic cast Maurice Evans as the Dauphin, Brian Aherne as Warwick, Tyrone Power as Bertrand de Poulengey, and Arthur Byron as the Inquisitor. The play opened on March 9, 1936, and Burns Mantle wrote that

5576-404: Was Cornell, who sent "tiny bells up and down my unpurchasable vertebrae." Most other critics panned the play itself, but nonetheless found it irresistible because of Cornell's ability to mesmerise, despite the garish dialogue. Critic George Jean Nathan wrote that the play was "superbly acted in its leading role by that one young woman who stands head and shoulders above all the other young women of

5658-535: Was a lavender marriage . She was a member of the " sewing circles " in New York, and had relationships with Nancy Hamilton , Tallulah Bankhead , Mercedes de Acosta , and others. In 1924, Cornell and McClintic were part of The Actor's Theatre, a successor to the Washington Square Players. This was a group of actors that sought to be a democracy without any stars. As their first production, they selected Candida by George Bernard Shaw . At

5740-458: Was able to turn over $ 1.5 million —the equivalent of more than $ 20.5 million today. "Patriotism, entertainment, and romance mix badly", wrote modern critic Pauline Kael , who looked back on the film for The New Yorker . "Many famous performers make fools of themselves … Katharine Cornell, Katharine Hepburn, and Paul Muni fare a shade worse than most of the other 50-odd famous performers; Ray Bolger and Ed Wynn come off rather better." Kael termed

5822-663: Was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic Alexander Woollcott , Cornell was the first performer to receive the Drama League Award , for Romeo and Juliet in 1935. Cornell is noted for her major Broadway roles in serious dramas, often directed by her husband, Guthrie McClintic . The couple formed C. & M.C. Productions, Inc.,

5904-400: Was born into a prominent, wealthy family distantly related to Ezra Cornell , founder of Cornell University. Her great-grandfather Samuel Garretson Cornell, a descendant of pioneer ancestor Thomas Cornell , came to Buffalo in the 1850s, and founded Cornell Lead Works. One of his grandsons, Peter, married Alice Gardner Plimpton. The young couple lived in Berlin when Peter was studying medicine at

5986-622: Was greeted backstage by family and friends from Buffalo. Many of her productions were performed at the Erlanger Theater on Delaware Avenue, across from the Statler Hotel . The Erlanger was demolished in 2007. In 1915, Cornell's mother died, leaving her enough money to be independent. The young woman moved to New York City to pursue her acting career. There she joined the Washington Square Players and

6068-473: Was hailed as one of the most promising actresses of the season. After just two seasons, she joined Jessie Bonstelle 's company, a leading New York repertory company that divided its summers between Detroit and Buffalo. Now aged 25, Cornell was consistently receiving glowing reviews. Cornell joined various theater companies, including the Bonstelle, that toured around the East Coast. In 1919, she went with

6150-415: Was in London, he was able to secure Brian Aherne to play the part of Robert Browning. Afterwards, McClintic immediately went to a London jewelry store and bought a necklace, two bracelets and a garnet ring, all at least 100 years old. For every single performance that Cornell gave as Elizabeth Barrett, she wore this jewelry in the last act, when she leaves the family home for the last time. Katharine Hepburn

6232-421: Was in production from November 30, 1942, to late January 1943. Star appearances range from momentary cameos, such as Johnny Weissmuller working in the Canteen's kitchen, to more substantial roles. In a June 1943 feature story titled "Show Business at War", Life magazine counted a total of 82 performers in Stage Door Canteen , and provided total screen time for some of them: Stage Door Canteen represents

6314-534: Was never considered for the roles she originated on stage. Additionally, Cornell had apparently written to film director George Cukor , suggesting that she would consider a film if he would direct her. Nothing came of this effort. She declined many movie roles that earned Academy Awards wins and nominations for the actresses who did play those parts, such as Olan in The Good Earth and Pilar in For Whom

6396-530: Was respected for taking any role and twisting it to make it her own. Gently disparaging the play itself, Brooks Atkinson wrote that Cornell is "our queen of tragedy, a thoughtful actress and a great one." Alternating with Victory , Cornell revived Candida with Mildred Natwick as Prossy. After the conclusion, she took a year off and wrote her memoir (with the help of Ruth Woodbury Sedgewick), titled I Wanted to Be an Actress and published by Random House in 1939. Cornell's general manager Gertrude Macy produced

6478-531: Was selected for the part of Henrietta, but because she was going to play in a summer stock company a few months later, she could not be signed to a contract. Casting the dog was troublesome because it had to lie still in its basket on stage for a great length of time, and then exit when called. McClintic selected an eight-month-old cocker spaniel, which played the role for the full run and many others afterward, to tremendous applause. Cornell bought The Barretts of Wimpole Street for McClintic in December 1930. The play

6560-402: Was something essential in herself, as a person, that the audiences sensed and reached out to." Another said that she was like "radium, flashing its healing rays," while others used an older phrase, "magnetic influence." The play closed in the spring of 1936 only because the production company had already contracted to produce Maxwell Anderson 's The Wingless Victory . Saint Joan finished with

6642-617: Was the first production of the Cornell-McClintic Corporation (C. & M. C. Productions, Inc.), formed January 5, 1931, with Cornell its producer-manager and McClintic its director. McClintic directed the three-hour play with a meticulous attention to period detail. The play opened first in Cleveland, then played in Buffalo before reaching New York in January 1931. Brooks Atkinson wrote of opening night: After

6724-789: Was to play Iris March in The Green Hat (1925), a romance by Michael Arlen . The play had themes of syphilis and loose morals, and Iris March was a strong sexual creature. Leslie Howard played the role of Napier. While the play was still in Chicago, it became an international hit, known all over the US and Europe. Ashton Stevens , senior drama critic in Chicago, wrote that The Green Hat "should die at every performance of its melodramatics, its rouge and rhinestones, its preposterous third act.... Already, I am beginning to forget its imperfections and remember only its charms." Its chief charm, he conceded,

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