Ketti Frings

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Ketti Frings (February 28, 1909¹ or 1915² - February 11, 1981) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, playwright, and screenwriter.

Born Katherine Herbert in Columbus, Ohio, Ketti attended Principia College, began her career as a copywriter, and went on to work as a feature writer for United Press International. She married Kurt Frings in 1938.

In 1941 her novel Hold Back the Dawn was adapted for the screen. The resulting movie was directed by Mitchell Leisen and starred Olivia de Havilland and Charles Boyer.

She wrote her first Broadway play, Mr. Sycamore, in 1942. The play featured Lillian Gish and Stuart Erwin in the lead roles.

Her Hollywood movie screenplays include Guest in the House (1944), The File on Thelma Jordon, (1950), Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), About Mrs. Leslie (1954), The Shrike (1955), and Foxfire (1955).

In 1958 Frings adapted the Thomas Wolfe novel Look Homeward, Angel into a play of the same name. It ran on Broadway for 564 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, received six Tony Award nominations, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Frings was named "Woman of the Year" by The Los Angeles Times in the same year.

Frings, the mother of one daughter, Kathie, and a son, Peter, died of cancer in Los Angeles.