| Laurence Stallings | |
|---|---|
Stallings c. 1918. Note the Croix de Guerre. |
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| Born | Laurence Tucker Stallings November 25, 1894 Macon, Georgia |
| Died | February 28, 1968 (aged 73) Pacific Palisades, California |
| Occupation | Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1923-1963 |
| Notable work(s) | Plumes What Price Glory |
| Notable award(s) | Croix de Guerre Silver Star Photoplay Gold Medal, The Big Parade 1925. |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Purefoy Poteat Louise St. Leger Vance |
Laurence Tucker Stallings (November 25, 1894 - February 28, 1968) was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. Best known for his collaboration with Maxwell Anderson on the 1924 play What Price Glory, Stallings also produced a groundbreaking autobiographical novel, Plumes about his service in World War I, and published an award-winning book of photographs, The First World War: A Photographic History.
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Stallings was born Laurence Tucker Stallings in Macon, Georgia to Larkin Tucker Stallings, a bank clerk, and Aurora Brooks Stallings, a homemaker and avid reader who inspired her son's love of literature. He entered Wake Forest University in North Carolina in 1912 and became the editor of the campus literary magazine, the Old Gold and Black.
He met Helen Poteat while at Wake Forest. She was the daughter of daughter of Dr. William Louis Poteat, the university president, and the sister of Stallings's classics professor. They were sweethearts throughout their school years. He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1916, and got a job writing advertising copy for a local recruiting office. He was so convinced by his own prose, that he joined the United States Marine Reserve himself in 1917. He was assigned to active duty and arrived in France in time to participate in the fighting at Château-Thierry, where he was wounded in the leg in the Battle of Bealleau Wood. After begging the doctors not to amputate, he came home to spend two painful years recuperating (He later damaged it with a fall on the ice, and it was amputated in 1922. Many years later he had to have his remaining leg amputated as well).[1] After finishing his convalescence, Stallings and Poteat married on March 8, 1919; they had two daughters, Sylvia (born 1926) and Diana (born 1931), before divorcing in 1936.
The following year he married Louise St. Leger Vance, his secretary at Fox Studios. They had two children, Laurence, Jr. (born 1939) and Sally (born 1941). Stallings died of a heart attack in Pacific Palisades, California. He was buried with full military honors at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma near San Diego.
Stallings received a Master of Science degree from Georgetown University, after which he worked as a reporter, critic, and entertainment editor at the New York World. He was impressed by Maxwell Anderson's first play, White Desert, and the two joined forces to collaborate on What Price Glory, which opened at the Plymouth Theatre in New York City in 1924. The critically acclaimed play ran for 435 performances and spawned two film adaptations.
The two went on to co-write the plays The First Flight and The Buccaneer, both in 1925. Stallings continued his theatre career with the book and lyrics for the musical Deep River (1926), adapted Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms for the stage in 1930, co-wrote the book for the musicals Rainbow (1928) with Oscar Hammerstein and Virginia (1937) with Owen Davis, and penned the play The Streets Are Guarded in 1944. He was a member of the Algonquin Round Table.
Stallings novel, the autobiographical Plumes, was published in 1924 and was a huge success, with nine printings in that year alone. It was adapted into King Vidor's The Big Parade, which was quite successful and remained MGM's largest grossing film until Gone with the Wind in 1939. He was regarded as a key influence on three of John Ford's greatest films, serving as writer or co-writer for 3 Godfathers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and The Sun Shines Bright. Additional screenwriting credits included Northwest Passage, The Man from Dakota, and On Our Merry Way.
Stalling's last book, The Doughboys: The Story of the AEF, 1917-1918, was published in 1963. The non-fiction account of World War I partly explores the racism and discrimination faced by the black troops during the war. Stallings was called back to service with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II as a Lieutenant Colonel but did not serve overseas.