Jean Kerr | |
|---|---|
 Kerrc. 1970s | |
| Born | Bridget Jean Collins (1922-07-10)July 10, 1922[1] Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 2003(2003-01-05) (aged 80) White Plains, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author Playwright |
| Notable awards | Tony Award (1961, forKing of Hearts) |
| Spouse | |
Jean Kerr (bornBridget Jean Collins; July 10, 1922[2] – January 5, 2003)[a] was an American author and playwright who authored the 1957 bestsellerPlease Don't Eat the Daisies[b] and the playsKing of Hearts in 1954 andMary, Mary in 1961.
Kerr was born on July 10, 1922,[4] inScranton, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrant parents Tom and Kitty Collins,[5] and grew up on Electric Street in Scranton.[6][7] She attendedMarywood Seminary, the topic of her humorous short story "When I was Queen of the May." She received a bachelor's degree from Marywood College in Scranton and attendedThe Catholic University of America, where she received her master's degree in 1945.[2]
A nun at Marywood persuaded her to drop her first name, because "only Irish washerwomen are named Biddie".[8]
I have two trifling ambitions in the theater: to make a lot of people laugh and to make a lot of money.[9]
The Kerrs worked together on several projects, including a 1946 adaptation of the novel,The Song of Bernadette.[10] They contributed lyrics and sketches to the musicalTouch and Go, and co-authoredGoldilocks (1958), a Broadway musical comedy about the early days of silent film that ran from October 11, 1958, to February 28, 1959, and won twoTony Awards, for Best Actress in a Featured Role (Pat Stanley) and Best Actor in a Featured Role (Russell Nype).[11][2]
The Kerrs also collaborated on theTony Award-winningKing of Hearts (1954), which ran for 279 performances; he directed the play that she co-wrote with Eleanor Brooke.[2]King of Hearts was adapted for the screen in 1956 under the titleThat Certain Feeling. The film starredBob Hope.
Jean Kerr wroteJenny Kissed Me, which was produced in December 1948. She wrote the hit comedyMary, Mary, which ran on Broadway from 1961 through 1964, for more than 1500 performances, and was brought to the screenunder the same title in a 1963 film, starringDebbie Reynolds andBarry Nelson, which was a big hit.[12][2]
She wrote sketches forJohn Murray Anderson'sAlmanac.[2] Her bookPlease Don't Eat the Daisies was a big success, and it was made into afeature film in 1960.[13] NBC also produceda 58-episode situation comedy starringPat Crowley from 1965 to 1967, based on the book[2][14] She then wroteThe Snake Has All the Lines in 1960.[2]
Kerr's playFinishing Touches ran from February to July 1973. Her other works include the playsPoor Richard (1964) andLunch Hour (1980). She also wrote the booksPenny Candy (1970) andHow I Got to Be Perfect (1978). Her last play,Lunch Hour, was staged in 1980, and featuredSam Waterson andGilda Radner.[10] Kerr was skeptical of casting Radner in the play, butMike Nichols persuaded her to watchGilda Live, and Kerr was won over by her performance in the film, and she was offered the part.[15]
Kerr was known to author her manuscripts and articles in longhand, and more than often, they were written in the family car,[8] and her husband then typed them.[9] American authorErnest K. Gann wrote in his bookTwilight for the Gods, that "anyone who reads it [Please Don't Eat the Daisies], will consider it the most reasonable thing in the world that she prefers to do her writing seated in an automobile and parked two blocks away from her Larchmont, New York, home".[16]
AmericancartoonistDick Hodgins Jr. drew acaricature of Kerr in 1963, which was featured in several newspapers at the time.[17]
Kerr was married to New York drama criticWalter Kerr; they were married on August 16, 1943.[6] The marriage lasted until his death in 1996.[2] The couple had six children; Christopher, twins Colin andJohn, Gilbert, Gregory, and Kitty.[12][9]
The Kerrs bought a house inNew Rochelle, New York, and later settled inLarchmont, New York in 1955.[18] Their house in Larchmont was frequently characterized in her writings; it featured a two-story fireplace, turrets, a medieval courtyard, and a 32-bellcarillon which played the duet from the operaCarmen at noon every day.[9][c] The house was previously owned byCharles King, who test droveHenry Ford's first car.[8]
She died of pneumonia in White Plains, New York in 2003.[2]
Kerr was born in Scranton on 10 July 1922.
Born Bridget Jean Collins to Irish immigrant parents in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1922.
Bridget Jean Collins was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on 10 July 1922, the eldest child of Irish immigrants Thomas Collins, Jr, a construction engineer, and homemaker Katherine ('Kitty') Collins, a second cousin of playwright Eugene O'Neill.
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