Winchell Smith
Winchell Smith (5 April 1871 – 10 June 1933) was an American playwright, known for big hit works such as Brewster's Millions (1906) and Lightnin' (1918).[3] Smith was an assistant to Frederic Thompson, owner of the New York Hippodrome, who had a stage version of Brewster's Millions in rehearsal.Thompson was advised by the successful dramatists George Howells Broadhurst, Augustus Thomas and William Gillette that the play would fail, and the novel could not be dramatized.[7] Smith wrote or co-wrote The Fortune Hunter (1909–10), The Boomerang (1915–16), Turn to the Right (1916–17) and Lightnin' (1918-20), all of which were great successes on Broadway.[10] President Woodrow Wilson attended a show with his wife, and called Golden to his box, where he told him the play was the most entertaining they had ever seen.[12][b] After Lightnin' closed the cast paraded down Broadway to Pennsylvania Station, where they boarded a train for a tour of the nation.[15] In 1919 John Golden arranged a meeting with his fellow producers Fred Zimmerman, Archibald Selwyn, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., Winchell Smith and L. Lawrence Weber with the goal of cooperating on common issues such as censorship and ticket speculation.[1] The 1925 film version of Lightnin' was directed by John Ford, with a screenplay by Frances Marion based on the play by Smith and Bacon.[24] In 1925 Golden produced the film Thank You, adapted from a play by Smith and Tom Cushing, directed by John Ford and starring George O'Brien.Smith wanted to encourage grain raising in Connecticut, brought costly machinery for harvesting and contracted farmers to plant rye, wheat and buckwheat.[29] Although he was known for his free-spending habits, at his death he left a fortune that his obituary in The New York Times described as "perhaps the largest ever amassed by an American playwright".
Hartford, ConnecticutFarmington, ConnecticutPlaywrightBrewster's MillionsLightnin'William GilletteFrederic ThompsonNew York HippodromeGeorge Howells BroadhurstAugustus ThomasVictor MapesBronson HowardWilliam H. CraneDouglas FairbanksTurn to the RightJohn GoldenFrank BaconGaiety TheatreWoodrow WilsonPennsylvania StationJohn Francis HylanGrover WhalenShaftesbury TheatreFred ZimmermanArchibald SelwynFlorenz Ziegfeld, Jr.L. Lawrence WeberProducing Managers' AssociationActors' Equity AssociationMarc ConnellyLittle TheatreWashington, D.C.The SapheadMarcus LoewMetro PicturesUnited ArtistsBuster KeatonHerbert BlachéJohn FordFrances MarionThank YouTom CushingGeorge O'BrienThe LambsD.W. GriffithWay Down EastLillian GishThe New York TimesThe Girl from KaysThe Man of DestinyJohn Bull's Other IslandMrs. Warren's ProfessionVia WirelessThe Last of Mrs. CheyneyWaterloo BridgeThe Only SonThe LambThree Wise FoolsMiss Brewster's MillionsThree on a SpreeEdward AbelesCharles Hale HoytA Trip to ChinatownAbie's Irish RoseProject GutenbergInternet ArchiveLibriVox