Behrman, S. N.

Behrman, S. N. (Samuel Nathaniel)

(1893–1973) playwright, screenwriter, journalist; born in Worcester, Mass. He studied at Clark University before enrolling at Harvard (B.A. 1916) where he studied in George Pierce Baker's playwriting course. His first sophisticated comedy, The Second Man (1927), was a hit. Working with the Theater Guild, he wrote several adaptations for the Lunts, Amphitryon 38 (1937) and I Know My Love (1949). He cofounded the Playwrights' Company in 1938 and wrote the autobiographical drama, No Time for Comedy (1939). A writer of screenplays for Hollywood, he was also author of Duveen (1952), a profile of the art collector, and Portrait of Max (1960), a biography of Max Beerbohm.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.