birth_date: 1894-11-25 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.66
name: Laurence Stallings
about: Laurence Tucker Stallings was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. The World War I veteran was noted for his anti-war book The First World War: A Photographic History.Stallings was born Laurence Tucker Stallings in Macon, Georgia. He graduated from Wake Forest College prior to his war service. In 1917, he joined the United States Marine Reserve. He was assigned to active duty and arrived in France in time to participate in the fighting at Château-Thierry (a specific location within the greater Belleau Wood battle), where he was wounded in the leg. (He further damaged it with a fall on the ice, and it was amputated in 1922. Many years later he had to have his remaining leg a Laurence Tucker Stallings was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. The World War I veteran was noted for his anti-war book The First World War: A Photographic History.Stallings was born Laurence Tucker Stallings in Macon, Georgia. He graduated from Wake Forest College prior to his war service. In 1917, he joined the United States Marine Reserve. He was assigned to active duty and arrived in France in time to participate in the fighting at Château-Thierry (a specific location within the greater Belleau Wood battle), where he was wounded in the leg. (He further damaged it with a fall on the ice, and it was amputated in 1922. Many years later he had to have his remaining leg amputated as well.)Stallings received a Master of Science degree from Georgetown University, after which he worked as a reporter, critic, and entertainment editor at the ''New York World''. He was impressed by Maxwell Anderson's first play, ''White Desert'', and the two joined forces to collaborate on What Price Glory, which opened at the Plymouth Theatre in New York City in 1924. The critically acclaimed play ran for 433 performances and spawned two film adaptations. The two went on to co-write the plays ''The First Flight'' and ''The Buccaneer'', both in 1925. Stallings continued his theatre career with the book and lyrics for the musical ''Deep River'' (1926), adapted ''A Farewell to Arms'' for the stage in 1930, co-wrote the book for the musicals ''Rainbow'' (1928) with [Oscar Hammerstein II and ''Virginia'' (1937) with Owen Davis, and penned the play ''The Streets Are Guarded'' in 1944.Stallings was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of journalists, editors, actors, and press agents that met on a regular basis at the Algonquin Hotel in New York. The group began lunching together in June 1919 and continued on a regular basis for about eight years.Members included Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Heywood Broun, Edna Ferber, George S. Kaufman, Harpo Marx, and Robert Sherwood.Stallings was called back to service with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II as a Lieutenant Colonel, but did not serve overseas. He served as a staff officer.Stallings first (and only) novel, the autobiographical Plumes, was published in 1924 and was a huge success, with nine printings in that year alone. It was adapted into King Vidor's ''The Big Parade'', which was quite successful and remained MGM's biggest grossing film until [book:Gone with the Wind|18405] in 1939. He was regarded as a key influence on three of John Ford's greatest films, serving as writer or co-writer for ''3 Godfathers'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'', and ''The Sun Shines Bright''. Additional screenwriting credits included ''Northwest Passage'', ''The Man from Dakota'', and ''On Our Merry Way''.Stalling's last book, The Doughboys: The Story of the AEF, 1917-1918, was published in 1963.Stallings died of a heart attack in Pacific Palisades, California. He was buried with full military honors at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma, California near San Diego.Biography source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence... ...more
death_date: 1968-02-28 00:00:00