Playwright, born in Elmira, New York, USA. He began by writing plays based on historical figures, such as Beau Brummel (1890), Nathan Hale (1898), and Barbara Freitchie (1899), but he soon moved towards social comedy, at which he was immensely successful (though modern critics complain about their contrived endings). Among his popular works were The Moth and the Flame (1898), Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901), and The City (1909).
Clyde Fitch (May 2, 1865 - September 4, 1909) was an American dramatist.
Born William Clyde Fitch at Elmira, New York, he wrote over 60 plays, 36 of them original, which varied from social comedies and farces to melodrama and historical dramas.
As the only child to live to adulthood, his father, Captain William G.
He was the first American playwright to publish his plays. His first work of note was Beau Brummell (1890) a major work set in the Regency-era, which became a showcase for actor Richard Mansfield (1854-1907), who would play the title role for the rest of his life. His 1892 play Masked Ball would be the first time that Charles Frohman put Maude Adams opposite John Drew which led to many future successes.
He is remembered particularly for his works such as Nathan Hale (1898), The Climbers (1901), The Girl with the Green Eyes (1902), The Truth (1907) and The City (1909). His play based on the heroine of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem Barbara Frietchie met with mixed reviews in 1899 because of the romance he added to the tale, but it would be successfully revived a number of times.
His career spanned a brief two decades, but he earned upwards of $250,000 from his plays at a time when a dollar a day was the working wage. He was the first American playwright to be taken seriously and at one time managed to have five plays running simultaneously on Broadway.
A generous host with an engaging personality he was renowned as a raconteur.
Correspondence of the time point to a likely relationship, however brief, with Oscar Wilde.
While staying at the Hotel de la Haute Mère de Dieu at Châlons-sur-Marne, France, he suffered what would be a fatal attack. His body was returned from France where it was entombed for a time in the Swan Callendar Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery which belonged to a friend.
In 1910 the body was removed and taken to New Jersey for cremation and the ashes were returned to the Swan Callendar Mausoleum until the Hunt &
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