Hugh Wheeler was one of the most unique playwrights of all time. He was innovative in his storytelling skills and could challenge the most prolific writer. In his life, he wrote numerous plays and over 30 mystery novels under three different pseudonyms. However, his award winning works included the play Sweeney Todd, Candide, and A Little Night Music. Take a look at Wheeler’s life and also, look at each of these works. See inside the man and the brilliant playwright.
Hugh Wheeler was born on March 19, 1912 to parents, Harold, who was a civil servant in the Office of the Public Trustee and Florence Wheeler, whose parents were in truck manufacturing. He was born in Northwood, Middlesex, England, (Obituary) and lived there until he was 22 years old. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London in 1932 (Gale). After receiving his degree, he decided to move to the United States and pursue his love of writing. He served in the American armed forces in World War II. He also became a naturalized American citizen in 1942. He remained in the United States until his death in 1987 (Obituary). There are few details of Wheeler’s personal life except that he never married and lived privately (Document). He was well respected in the literary world, in which he accumulated a variety of awards.
As private as Wheeler was a person, you can only speculate as to why he wrote over 40 books under three different pseudonyms. His seemingly quiet private life may have been vicariously lived through the lives of the many characters he created in his mystery novels. The series of Puzzle novels were his most popular and were written under the pseudonym Patrick Quentin and collaborated with Richard Webb (Obituar...
... middle of paper ...
...udonyms. When he became tired of writing novels, he decided to become an award winning playwright, winning awards for such works as Sweeney Todd, Candide and A Little Night Music. Hugh Wheeler was a very private man and one of the most brilliant playwrights of all time.
Works Cited
Billington, Michael. "A Little Night Music." The Guardian 8 April 2009.
Document, Gale. "No 55 Hugh Wheeler." Independent on Sunday 13 June 2010.
Gale. "Hugh Callingham Wheeler." Contemporary Authors Online 28 March 2011.
Hampton, Wilborn. "Hugh Wheeler, Award Winning Playwright." New York Times 28 July 1987.
LeonardBernstein.com. 2009. .
"Obituary(Web)." Variety 29 July 1987.
"Obituary(Web)." The Times, London, England 30 July 1987.
Wheeler, Hugh. Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. New York: Dodd, Meade and Company, 1979.
Robinson, Daniel. "Getting It Right: The Short Fiction of Tim O'Brien." Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 40.3 (1999): 257. Expanded Academic ASAP.
As a child, Ray Bradbury loved to read fantasy novels. Inspired by his favorite writers, he longed to become a fantasy writer himself. Bradbury lived during the Great Depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school. Instead, Bradbury went to the library every other day for ten years. During this time, he realized that he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. To get money, Bradbury started publishing his works in a newspaper. Because he wanted practice, he used several pseudonyms to make it look like he had several authors publishing their stories in his newspaper, but in fact, it was written entirely by Bradbury himself. “Bradbury uses [his] stories not only to entertain, but to cause readers to think about their own lives” (Clark, Tracy). He focused more on the message of his story than the popularity of it. “When ask...
When he was fifteen years old his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career. He had the knowledge of philosophy and psychology. He attempted to write when he was a youth, but he made a choice to pursue a literary career in 1919. After he published Cane he became part of New York literary circles. He objected both rivalries that prevailed in the fraternity of writers and to attempts to promote him as a black writer (Clay...
working up to the later writings such as the Four Quartets and Murder in the
Wright, Richard. "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." Literature and the Writing Process. Ed.
When discussing 19th century authors, critics are sure to discuss a name that brought a new feel to the local color writing scene. After amassing a great amount of wealth and signing the largest contract of his time it can be argued that Bret Harte was the greatest writer of his time. Some would argue that his work was dry, but others would agree that his thought provoking work really reflected who he was and where he came from.
Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911. As a successful playwright, his career was greatly influenced by events in his life. He was noted for bringing the reader "a slice of his own life and the feel of southern culture", as his primary sources of inspiration were "the writers he grew up with, his family, and the South." The connection between his life and his work can be seen in several of his plays.
Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History of American Literature Since 1870 . Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992.
Ernest Hemingway was a great American author whom started his career humbly in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the ripe, young age of seventeen. Once the United States joined World War One, Hemingway deemed it fit to join a volunteer ambulance service. During this time Hemingway was wounded, and decorated by the Italian Government for his noble deeds. Once he completely recovered, he made his way back to the United States. Upon his arrival he became a reporter for the American and Canadian newspapers and was sent abroad to cover significant events. For example, he was sent to Europe to cover the Greek revolution. During his early adulthood, Hemingway became a member of the group of expatriate Americans in Paris. This is known as the time in his life in which he describes in two of his novels; A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises the latter of the two being his first work. Hemingway was able to use his experiences of serving in the front during the war and his experience of being with other expatriates after the war to shape both of these novels. He was able to successful write these novels due to his past experience with working for newspapers. His experience with the newspaper seemed to be far more beneficial than just supplying him with an income, with the reporting experience under his belt he also was able to construct another novel that allowed him to sufficiently describe his experiences reporting during the Civil War; For Whom the Bell Tolls. Arguably his most tremendous short novel was a about an old fisherman’s journey and the long, lonely struggle with a fish and the sea with his victory being in defeat.
reputation as one of the finest American writers of all time. A man of towering
Tennessee Williams is widely known as one of the greatest playwrights in American history. Tennessee Williams's personal life and experiences have been the direct subject matter for his dramas. He uses his experiences and universalize them through the means of the stage. His life is utilized over and over again in the creation of his dramas.
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
Hirsch, Foster. A Portrait of the Artist-The Plays of Tennessee Williams. London: Kennikat Press, 1979.
Many playwrights drew from outside influences to compose their works. They would look the era they were living in, their personal lives, childhood experiences, and even ancient texts to acquire inspiration for their works and famous playwright, Eugene O’Neill, is no exception. Writing through two world wars, a great depression, and boom of the motion-picture industry, O’Neill certainly had much inspiration to choose from. Although not becoming nationally recognized until after his father’s death in 1920, O’Neill still managed to produce fifty completed works. Using influences from the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Eugene O’Neill demonstrated how he used the era he was living in to help compose his works.
George Bernard Shaw is known by many as the most significant English playwright since the seventeenth century. He wrote fifty-seven plays in his lifetime, and a vast majority of them were revolutionary in their themes.