PARKER, DOROTHY

Parker, Dorothy: translation

(1893-1967)

Dorothy Rothschild was born in West End, New Jersey, and as Dorothy Parker became a celebrated writer. As a critic, Parker wrote during the 1910s forVogueandVanity Fairbefore joining the staff of theNew Yorkeras book reviewer "Constant Reader" and, later, as a drama critic. Parker's sarcastic, witty condemnations of plays and actors are legendary, as when she describedThe House Beautiful(1931) as "the play lousy," or when she wrote that Katharine Hepburn,* starring inThe Lake(1934), ran the gamut of emotions "from A to B." Parker wrote sketches for the musical revueThe 49ers(1922), contributed the lyrics forNo, Sirree! (1922) andShoot the Works(1931), and collaborated on two successful plays,Close Harmony;or, The Lady Next Door(1924; with Elmer Rice) andLadies of the Corridor* (1953; with Arnaud D'Usseau). With D'Usseau she also wrote the unproduced playThe Ice Age(1955). She collaborated with Ross Evans on theThe Coast of Illyria(1949). One of Parker's books,After Such Pleasures, was adapted to the stage by Edward F. Gardner in 1934. With her second husband, writer Alan Campbell, Parker wrote motion picture scripts (includingA Star Is Born[1937]) and the playThe Happiest Man(1939), which was never produced. Parker also contributed lyrics to the musicalCandide(1956), wrote 20 screenplays and several collections of poetry, and is also remembered as founder and resident "wit" of the famedAlgonquin Round Table, along with George S. Kaufman,Robert Benchley, Harold Ross, and James Thurber.*