Victor Mapes | |
|---|---|
 Mapes c. 1910 | |
| Born | (1870-03-10)10 March 1870 New York City, New York, USA |
| Died | 27 September 1943(1943-09-27) (aged 73) Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Playwright, producer and director |
Victor Mapes (10 March 1870 – 27 September 1943) was an American playwright, stage manager and director.
Victor Mapes was born inNew York City on 10 March 1870.[1]He belonged to an old New York Family.He attendedColumbia University, where he proved an excellent athlete and graduated in 1891 at the head of his class. He became a journalist, and the next year spent time inParis, France, where he studied drama at theSorbonne.He lived in Paris from 1892 to 1896. In May 1895 his playLa Comtesse de Lisne was staged at the Theatre Mondaine.[2]He was Paris correspondent forThe New York Sun.[1]
After returning to the USA Mapes became stage manager at the Lyceum Theatre in New York forDaniel Frohman in 1897.Later that year he resigned to become drama critic for theNew York World.[2]He wrote under the pseudonym of "Sidney Sharp".[3]When his first American play,A Flower of Yeddo, was produced Mapes resigned from theWorld.[3]A Flower of Yeddo was staged at the Empire Theater of New York in 1898.His playThe Tory's Guest was produced at the same theater in 1900.[2]
While writing plays, Mapes became general stage director of Daly's Theater in New York, and in 1904 became manager at the Globe Theater in Boston.[2]In 1906 he became director of the New Theater in Chicago, which opened in October that year. The theater was founded by a group of leading Chicago citizens with the aim of producing worthwhile plays for limited runs without elaborate scenery or costumes, and without promoting stars.[4]The high-minded formula was not successful.[5]Mapes resigned at the end of 1906.[6]
Mapes's best known works areThe Boomerang (1915), and two plays written in collaboration,The New Henrietta (1913) andThe Hottentot (1920).The Boomerang, produced byDavid Belasco and starringArthur Byron andMartha Hedman, ran at the Belasco Theatre for 522 performances. It has been called a "sunny, youthful, spirited play", with excellent performances by the leader actors.[3]Boomerang was written in collaboration withWinchell Smith, The farceHottentot was written in collaboration withWilliam Collier Sr.[1]
Victor Mapes died in Cannes, France on 27 September 1943 duringWorld War II.[1]
Mapes' Broadway shows include the following:[7]
Mapes was credited as writer for a number of films:[1]
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