Luce, Clare Boothe, 1903–87, American playwright and diplomat, whose name originally was Anne Clare Boothe, b. New York City. Witty, outspoken, and an articulate political conservative, Luce began her career writing for Vogue and Vanity Fair in 1930, soon becoming managing editor of the latter magazine. She married publisher Henry Luce Luce, Henry Robinson, 1898–1967, American publisher, b. Tengchow (now Penglai), China, the son of a Presbyterian missionary. After studying at Yale Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1935, and the following year her play The Women, satirizing wealthy New York matrons, succeeded on Broadway. Other hits were Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1938) and Margin for Error (1939). She was twice elected to the House of Representatives (1943–47) as a Republican from Connecticut. During the Eisenhower administration (1953–56) she served as ambassador to Italy. Her other writings include Stuffed Shirts (1933) and Europe in the Spring (1940).

Bibliography

See biography by J. Lyons (1989).

Luce, Clare Boothe

orig. Ann Clare Boothe

Clare Boothe Luce.

(credit: Camera Press)

(born March 10, 1903, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 9, 1987, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician, dramatist, and socialite. She was born into poverty to parents who never married. From 1930 to 1934 she worked as an editor at Vogue and Vanity Fair. In the latter she published short sketches satirizing New York society, some of which were collected as Stuffed Shirts (1931). In 1935 she married Henry R. Luce, the publisher of Time and later Life magazine. Three of her witty plays were adapted into films: The Women (1936), Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1938), and Margin for Error (1939). From 1939 to 1940 she worked as a war correspondent for Life and recounted her experiences in Europe in the Spring (1940). As a member of the House of Representatives (1943–47), she became influential in Republican Party politics. She served as ambassador to Italy from 1953 to 1956, was a public supporter of Barry Goldwater in the 1960s, and served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan in the 1970s and '80s. In 1983 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is remembered for her fiesty demeanour and her acid wit, which she displayed in oft-quoted aphorisms such as, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Luce, Clare Boothe (1903–87) playwright, journalist, public official; born in New York City. She was an editor of Vogue and Vanity Fair before enjoying considerable success with plays such as The Women (1936) and Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1938). Her personal life often kept her in the limelight, as when she married Henry R. Luce (1935) and converted to Catholicism (1946). An outspoken Republican, she served in the U.S. House of Representatives (Rep., Conn.; 1943–47) and as ambassador of Italy (1953–56). She was especially known for the acerbic wit of both her speech and writings.