George Broadhurst

{{short description|American dramatist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox writer | name = George Broadhurst | image = George Broadhurst (1866–1952).png | image_size = | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt =  | caption = In ''The Sketch'', 6 September 1899 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1866|06|03}} | birth_place = Walsall, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1952|01|31|1866|06|03}} | death_place = Santa Barbara, California, United States | resting_place = Santa Barbara, California | occupation = Playwright, theatre manager, director, producer | language = English | period = 1896–1924 | genre = {{cslist|Farce|drama|musical theatre}} | notable_works = {{ubl |''What Happened to Jones'' |''The Law of the Land'' }} | spouses = {{marriage|Ida Raymond Broadhurst|1887|1925|end=div}}, {{marriage|Lillian Trimble Bradley|1925}} | children = 2 | portaldisp =  }} thumb|right|200px|Poster for Broadhurst's ''What Happened to Jones'', 1897 (Library of Congress)

'''George Howells Broadhurst''' (June 3, 1866 – January 31, 1952) was an Anglo-American theatre owner/manager, director, producer and playwright. His plays were most popular from the late 1890s into the 1920s.

==Biography== Broadhurst was born in Walsall, England, in 1866. In 1882 he emigrated to the United States where, while working for the Chicago Board of Trade,<ref name=plays1920/> he began writing plays, the first of which, ''The Speculator'', was based on his work there. He later moved into production and direction.

He also managed theatres in Milwaukee, Baltimore, and San Francisco, and in 1917 in partnership with the Shubert brothers he built and opened Broadhurst Theatre in New York. He staged a number of plays in his eponymous theatre until 1924, and continued to co-own the theatre with the Shuberts until his death in 1952. He was survived by his wife, director and playwright Lillian Trimble Bradley.

Broadhurst and his wife lived in Santa Barbara, California, for the last ten years of his life, and he is buried there.<ref name="nytimesobit">(1 February 1952). [https://www.nytimes.com/1952/02/01/archives/g-br0hurst85-plaright-dead-author-of-wrong-mr-wright-a-fool-and-his.html "G. Broadhurst, 85, Playwright, Dead, Author of 'Wrong Mr. Wright,' 'A Fool and His Money' and Many Other Hit Shows"], ''The New York Times'', p. 21, col. 1. {{Subscription required}}</ref>

==Works== Broadhurst wrote almost 30 plays, including the farces ''What Happened to Jones'' (1897), ''The Wrong Mr. Wright'' (1897), and ''Why Smith Left Home'' (1899) (all of which did better in London than in New York), and plays ''The Man of the Hour'' (1906), ''Bought and Paid For'' (1911), ''The Law of the Land'' (1914), and ''The Crimson Alibi'' (1919).<ref name=plays1920>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242169334 |title=George Broadhurst's Plays |newspaper=The Herald |publication-place=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |date=7 February 1920 |access-date=2023-10-15 |page=2 |via=Trove}}</ref><ref name="modern">Fisher, James and Felicia Hardison Londre. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yEKvpNYJYzcC&pg=PA77 ''The A to Z of American Theater: Modernism''], p. 77 (2008)</ref> With Frederic Ranken he co-authored both the book and lyrics to the 1903 Broadway musical ''Nancy Brown'' which was created as a starring vehicle for the actress Marie Cahill.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2022|isbn=9781538168943|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TdwEAAAQBAJ|chapter=Nancy Brown|page=149-151}}</ref>

His work was once described as one "who had a knack for the sort of melodrama that poses as a serious study of morals."<ref name="bordman">Bordman, Gerald and Thomas S. Hischak. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DiI1wIyatvUC&pg=PA94 ''The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre'', 3rd ed.], p. 94 (2004)</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|George Broadhurst}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=32888| name=George Howells Broadhurst}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=George Howells Broadhurst}} * {{IBDB name}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadhurst, George Howells}} Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:People from Walsall Category:1866 births Category:1952 deaths