Jerome Lawrence (1915-2004) was an American playwright best
known for his collaborations with Robert E. Lee (1918-1994)-39 works in all,
including the present play and their biographical drama about Henry David
Thoreau, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (1970) and Auntie Mame (1956),
which was based on a novel by Patrick Dennis (1956) and would later be adapted
into a successful Broadway musical (Mame, 1966) and film (1974). A
theater archive at Ohio State University, their alma mater, is named for
Lawrence and Lee.
Inherit the Wind originally ran on Broadway from
April of 1955 to June of 1957. It was adapted to the screen in 1960, starring
Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelley, Dick York and Harry Morgan.
Although nominated for four Academy Awards, it won none.
SOURCES:
The Chronology of American Literature, edited by
Daniel S. Burt. Copyright � 2004 by Houghton
Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
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