Pen name John Oliver Role Dramatist Name Owen Davis | Magnum opus Icebound Nationality United States Spouse Elizabeth Breyer | |
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Born Owen Gould Davis, Sr.
January 29, 1874
Portland, Maine, USA ( 1874-01-29 ) Occupation Playwright, screenwriter Awards Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1923) Died October 14, 1956, New York City, New York, United States Plays Icebound, Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model Children Donald Davis, Owen Davis, Jr. Movies The Good Earth, Jezebel, The Great Gatsby, Whoopee!, The Donovan Affair Similar People Owen Davis - Jr, Ernest Haller, Elliott Nugent, William Wyler, Thornton Freeland | ||
Owen Gould Davis, Sr. (January 29, 1874 – October 14, 1956) was an American dramatist. He received the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his 1923 play Icebound, and penned hundreds of plays and scripts for radio and film. Before the First World War, he also wrote racy sketches of New York high jinks and low life for the Police Gazette under the name of Ike Swift. Many of these were set in the Tenderloin, Manhattan. Davis also wrote under several other pseudonyms, including Martin Hurley, Arthur J. Lamb, Walter Lawrence, John Oliver, and Robert Wayne.
Personal life
Davis was born in Portland, Maine and lived in Bangor until he was fifteen. He was the father of actor Owen, Jr., and playwright Donald. His brother Wilsterliam Hammatt Davis was Chairman of the National War Labor Board in Franklin Roosevelt's administration. Davis died in New York City.
As a boy, Owen Davis wrote plays for his eight brothers and sisters, who performed them for the town.