Housman, Laurence

Housman, Laurence, 1865–1959, English author; brother of A. E. Housman. He achieved success as the anonymous author of An Englishwoman's Love Letters (1900). Best known as a dramatist, he wrote Little Plays of St. Francis (1922–35) and Palace Plays (1930–33). His most famous play, Victoria Regina (1934), adapted from his Palace Plays, was banned from the English stage for representing living members of the royal family, but an American production with Helen Hayes in 1935 was highly successful.