{{Short description|American playwright and artist (1876–1934)}} thumb|right|Sewell Collins '''Sewell Thomas Collins Jr.''' (September 1, 1876 – February 15, 1934) was an American dramatist, producer, and illustrator.<ref>Wearing, J. P. ''American and British Theatrical Biography''. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1979: 232</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Sewell Collins, producer, is dead; American theatrical man and cartoonist succumbs at 57 in his home in London |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/16/archives/sewell-collins-producer-is-dead-american-theatrical-man-and.html |work=The New York Times |date=16 February 1934}}</ref>
==Biography== Collins was born in Denver, Colorado, to Sewell Thomas Collins, a banker, and Edith (Hughes) Collins.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Finance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdtNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA119|year=1911|publisher=Joseph & Sefton|page=119}}</ref><ref name="SpeerBrown1881">{{cite book|editor-first1=William S.|editor-last1= Speer|editor-first2=John Henry|editor-last2= Brown|contribution=Hon. Sewell T. Collins|title=The Encyclopedia of the New West: Colorado Volume|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JjlEy4Bq3dMC&pg=PT380|year=1881|publisher=United States Biographical Publishing Company|location=Marshall, Texas|pages=49–50}}</ref> He attended the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, then Shattuck Military School, Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1893. Afterwards he was engaged as draughtsman in different positions in Chicago, and began studying at the Chicago Art Institute. During this time he was engaged during the day as a clerk, subsequently going with the ''Chicago Daily News'' as a reporter and cartoonist. He joined the staff of the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1893, remaining with that paper for four years as a cartoonist, specializing in theatrical work. His work attracted the attention of William Randolph Hearst, who engaged him to come to New York, joining the staff of the ''Evening Journal''. He remained in this position for one year, after which he became a freelance doing theatrical posters and general magazine work, with work appearing in periodicals such as ''Life'' and ''Collier's Weekly.'' He wrote several one-act sketches, including ''Awake at the Switch'', ''Thirty Dollars'', ''The Blue Danube'', ''Fine Feathers'', ''The Father'', and ''Somebody''. His play ''Miss Patsy,'' produced by Henry W. Savage and starring Gertrude Quinlan, opened on Broadway in 1910. The same year, he went to London to write, produce, and paint. He made portraits of many prominent actors and actresses from Europe and America.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Hines|editor-first1= Dixie|editor-last2= Hanaford|editor-first2= Harry Prescott|title= Who's Who in Music and Drama|year=1914|publisher= H. P. Hanaford|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusicdr00hana/page/73 73]|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusicdr00hana}}</ref>
Collins wrote several plays which were later adapted for film, including ''At 9:45'' (1919) which was filmed as ''Nine Forty-Five'' (1934) and starred Binnie Barnes and Donald Calthrop.<ref>Roberts, Jerry. ''The Great American Playwrights: A Critical Guide to Film, TV, Video, and DVD''. New York: Applause Books, 2003: 136. {{ISBN|1557835128}}</ref> In his play ''G.H.Q. Love'' (1920), Collins was one of the first playwrights to depict prostitutes without judgment, depicting women who turned to that trade, according to theatre historian Sos Eltis, "as social deprivation and economic necessity."<ref>Eltis, Sos. ''Acts of Desire: Woman and Sex on Stage, 1800-1920''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013: 205. {{ISBN|978-0-19-969-135-7}}</ref> Later in life he began directing films, including ''The Night Porter'' (1930) and ''Bracelets'' (1931). His wife was the Scottish-born actress Margaret Moffat. He died aged 57 at his home in London on February 15, 1934.<ref name=":0" /> {{-}} {{Multiple image |header=Select illustrations |total_width=750 |align=center |image1=John Phillip Sousa - De Wolf Hopper - El Capitan1.png |caption1=Poster for ''El Capitan'' (1896) |alt1= |width1=912 |height1=1940 |image2=Caricatures of the Stage - Richard Mansfield as Richard III.jpg |caption2=Caricature of Richard Mansfield in ''Richard III'' |alt2= |width2=545 |height2=662 |image3=Margaret Moffat by Sewell Collins.jpg |caption3=Margaret Moffat, Collins' wife, as sketched in 1909 |width3=1356 |height3=1657
|image4=Life magazine cover 1907-06-20.jpg |caption4=''Life'' cover, June 20 1907 |width4=600 |height4=773 |footer= |footer_align= }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
* {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|editor-last1=Hines|editor-first1= Dixie|editor-last2= Hanaford|editor-first2= Harry Prescott|title= Who's Who in Music and Drama|year=1914|publisher= H. P. Hanaford|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusicdr00hana}} }}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=25564| name=Sewell Collins}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Sewell Collins |sopt=t}} * {{IMDb name|0172677}} * {{IBDB name | 8632}} *[https://www.greatwartheatre.org.uk/db/person/144/ Plays by Sewell Collins on the Great War Theatre website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Sewell}} Category:1876 births Category:1934 deaths Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from Denver Category:Artists from Denver Category:American editorial cartoonists Category:American magazine illustrators Category:American poster artists