J. P. McEvoy

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Joseph Patrick McEvoy (January 10, 1897 – August 8, 1958), also sometimes credited as John P. McEvoy, or Joseph P. McEvoy, was an American writer whose stories were published during the 1920s and 1930's in popular magazines such as Liberty, The Saturday Evening Post, and Cosmopolitan. Many of his stories were adapted to movies during this period. McEvoy also had a hit play, The Potters (1924), contributed to the Ziegfeld Follies, and wrote a number of novels, including Show Girl (1928) and Hollywood Girl (1929). These two novels were adapted into the movies Show Girl (1928) and Show Girl in Hollywood (1930), both starring Alice White.

J. P. McEvoy is perhaps best known as the creator and writer for the popular syndicated newspaper comic strip character Dixie Dugan. Based on Show Girl, with the title character looking like actress Louise Brooks, and illustrated by John H. Striebel, the comic strip ran from 1929 to 1966.

He was also the originator of the quote often attributed to Mark Twain: "Whenever I get the impulse to exercise comes over me, I lie down until it passes away".^[1] He also is credited as the originator of the phrase, "Cut to the chase", in 1928.

During the 1940s and 1950s, he was a regular contributor to the Reader's Digest.

McEvoy had four children: Dorothy and Dennis with his first wife, and Patricia and Margaret with his third wife, New York journalist Margaret Santry.