Augustus Thomas

Augustus Thomas
Born	January 8, 1857 St. Louis, Missouri,US
Died	August 12, 1934(1934-08-12)(aged 77) Nyack, New York,US
Other names	Gus
Occupation	Playwright
Years active	1889–1926

Augustus Thomas(January 8, 1857 – August 12, 1934) was an American playwright.

Biography

Born inSt. Louis, Missouriand son of a medical doctor, Thomas worked a number of jobs including as apagein the41st Congress,studying law, and gaining some practical railway work experience before he turned to journalism and became editor of theKansas CityMirrorin 1889. Thomas had been writing since his teens when he wrote plays and even organized a small theatrical touring company.

Thomas was hired to work as an assistant at Pope's Theatre in St. Louis. During this time, he wrote a one-act play calledEditha's Burglar,based on a short story byFrances Hodgson BurnettcalledThe Burglar.After touring in the play, he expanded the show to four acts, renamed itThe Burglar,and was able to getMaurice Barrymoreto play the title role. Subsequently, he was hired to succeedDion Boucicaultadapting foreign plays for theMadison Square Theatre.

His first successful play,Alabama,was produced byKirke La Shellein 1891 and its financial reward allowed Thomas to write full-time.Alabamais the story of an un-reconstructed Confederate. Notably, Thomas was one of the first playwrights to make use of American material. Other plays along the same lines includeArizona(1900),In Mizzoura(1893),Colorado(1900) andRio Grande(1916). Perhaps his most successful play wasThe Copperhead(1918) which madeLionel Barrymorea star.

Thomas joinedThe Lambstheatrical club in 1889 and served as its president from 1907 to 1910.

He died in 1934 and was buried inBellefontaine Cemeteryin St. Louis.

Select works

1907 playbill forArizona

• Editha's Burglar,1884
• The Burglar,1889
• A Man of the World,1889
• Reckless Temple,1890
• A Woman of the World, 1890
• Alabama,1891
• Colonel Carter of Cartersville,1892
• In Mizzoura,1893
• New Blood,1894
• Arizona,1900
• Oliver Goldsmith,1900
• Colorado,1900
• Soldiers of Fortune,1902 (from 1897Richard Harding Davisnovel)
• The Earl of Pawtucket,1903
• The Other Girl,1903
• Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots,1905
• The Embassy Ball,1906
• The Witching Hour,1907
• The Harvest Moon,1909
• The Member from Ozark,1910
• As a Man Thinks,1911
• The Copperhead,1918
• Nemesis,1921
• The Print of My Remembrance(autobiography), 1922
• Still Waters,1926

Select filmography

Poster forThe Jungle(1914), directed by Augustus Thomas,George Irvingand John H. Pratt

• Arizona(1913)
• The Jungle(1914)
• Shore Acres(1914)
• Paid in Full(1914)
• The Nightingale(1914)
• Arizona(1918)
• The Capitol(1919)
• The Bonnie Brier Bush(1921)
• Thirty Days(1922)
• The Family Secret(1924)
• Arizona(1931)

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Gilman, D. C.;Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905).New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
• Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th edition. London:Oxford UP, 1983. pps. 827–828.
• Moody, Richard. "Augustus Thomas". in Banham, Martin, ed.The Cambridge Guide to Theatre,London:Cambridge UP, 1992.

External links

• Augustus ThomasatIMDb
• Augustus Thomasat theInternet Broadway Database
• Bio.
• Works by Augustus ThomasatProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Augustus Thomasat theInternet Archive