Barry Conners(1883-1933)
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Barry Conners (1882-1933)--actor, playwright, attorney and
screenwriter--was born and raised in Oil City, PA, the son of a country
doctor. Although he later graduated from law school, he never
established a practice. Instead, he joined the theater as an actor with
an eye to learning stagecraft well enough to become a playwright. For a
time he was a song-and-dance man in vaudeville and he toured the
country as an actor in various repertory groups. Sometime early in the
century, he joined the so-called White Rats Movement ("Star" spelled
backwards). The organization, which
Ethel Barrymore's father Maurice
Barrymore helped to form, aimed to improve conditions for actors who
had fallen into the grip of a few monopolistic theatrical producers
(primarily Charles Frohman's theatrical
syndicate) who were controlling the business. The organization, a
predecessor of the Actors Guild, was destroyed around World War I and
Conners was blacklisted from work as an actor in the theater. He took a
job as a hunting and fishing guide in the Lake Tahoe, Nevada, area and
began writing plays. Subsequently several of his plays were produced in
New York City in the 1920s, beginning with the off-Broadway production
of "Mad Honeymoon." Among his other successful plays was "Hell's
Bells," which in 1925 provided the Broadway debut of actress
Shirley Booth and actor
Humphrey Bogart. His other Broadway
plays included "Applesauce," and "Unexpected Husbands." Following the
success of "The Patsy," which starred
William Randolph Hearst's
mistress, Marion Davies. Seeing his chance
to capitalize on his voice, Conners left Broadway for Hollywood as
talkies swept the film industry at the end of the decade. He worked as
a screenwriter for Fox Films for several years.
Conners died in a fire in his Los Angeles apartment building on Jan. 5, 1933. He was just 50 years old.
Conners died in a fire in his Los Angeles apartment building on Jan. 5, 1933. He was just 50 years old.
