Henry Blossom
Henry Martyn Blossom (May 10, 1866 – March 23, 1919) was an American playwright and lyricist. Biography. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he teamed with Victor Herbert on several popular operettas. His first Broadway musical project was "The Yankee Consul" (1904) for composer Alfred G. Robyn, after which he primarily wrote for Herbert, including "Mlle. Modiste" (1905), "The Red Mill" (1906), "Baron Trenck" (1911), "The Only Girl" (1914), "The Princess Pat" (1915), "Eileen" (1917), and "Kiss Me Again" (film version of "Mlle. Modeste", 1931). He also wrote "When Uncle Sam is Ruler of the Sea" with Victor Herbert in  1916, "It's Not the Uniform That Makes the Man" with A. Baldwin Sloane in 1917 and "I Want to Go Back to the War" with Percival Knight (music was by Raymond Hubbell) in 1919. Blossom was also involved with several shows that failed to reach Broadway. He died from pneumonia in New York City at the age of 53. Section::::"Checkers: A Hard Luck Story". Checkers: A Hard Luck Story, sometimes written as Checkers: A Hard-luck Story is a book written by Blossom in 1896. He adapted it into a successful play starring Thomas W. Ross. It was adapted  into two silent films titled Checkers, the first directed by Augustus Thomas in 1913 and the second, "Checkers" in 1919. The plot involves a love story about a man trying to win approval of his would-be father-in-law as he faces career hurdles and tries to distance himself from gambling and horse racing. 1913 film. Eustace Hale Ball and Lawrence McGill wrote the scenario.