Edward Sheldon

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Edward Brewster Sheldon (b. 1886, Chicago, Illinois; d. April 1, 1946, New York City) was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell and Romance, 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, including such luminaries of the literary and theatrical world as John Barrymore, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Ruth Gordon, Helen Hayes (his sister-in-law), and many others.

A 1936 lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for copyright infringement claimed that the script MGM used for the film Letty Lynton (1932) plagiarized material from the play Dishonored Lady by Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes.

His life is detailed in The Man Who Lived Twice by Eric Wollencott Barnes.

[edit] Works

Salvation Nell (1908), made into the 1915, 1921, and 1931 motion pictures of the same name
The Nigger (1909), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name (aka The New Governor)
The Boss (1911), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name
The High Road (1912), made into the 1915 motion picture of the same name
Romance (1913), notable for its London run of 1,049 performances. Also made into the 1931 motion picture starring Greta Garbo. Produced as a musical, My Romance, with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Rowland Leigh, in 1948.
Song of Songs (1914), dramatization of the novel by Hermann Sudermann, made into the 1918 and 1933 motion pictures of the same name and the 1924 motion picture Lily of the Dust
The Garden of Paradise (1914), from "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen
The Jest (1919), adaptation from the Italian of Sem Benelli
The Czarina (1922), adaptation of the Hungarian play by Melchior Lengyel and Lajos Biro
Bewitched (1924), with Sidney Howard
Lulu Belle (1926), with Charles MacArthur, made into the 1948 motion picture of the same name
Jenny (1929), with Margaret Ayer Barnes
Dishonored Lady (1930), with Margaret Ayer Barnes, made into the 1947 motion picture of the same name (aka Sins of Madeleine)