Zoe Akins
(October 30,1886 - October 29, 1953) U.S.A.
Poet, playwright and Hollywood scriptwriter
She who had a long-term relationship with actress Jobyna Howland. Her first successful play was Declassée, following several failures and a bout with tuberculosis. The Greeks Had A Word For It, a comedy, later became the basis for the screenplay of How To Marry A Millionaire; as few of her plays had been particularly successful, moved to Hollywood from New York in 1930 and began to write screenplays.
Her play The Old Maiden, based on Edith Wharton's novel of the same name, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1935, but caused a furor among critics as it was an adaptation, not an original work, and led to the establishment of the "Critics' Choice Award" (which she never won) as an alternative to the Pulitzer.
Picture by Nickolas Muray, 1921 - negative, gelatin on nitrocellulose sheet film - 10" x8"
Some of her works:
- Declassée (1919)
- The Greeks Had A Word For It (1930)
- Morning Glory (1934)
- Camille (1937)
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