George Jean Nathan | |
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 Nathan in 1928 | |
| Born | (1882-02-14)February 14, 1882 Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 8, 1958(1958-04-08) (aged 76) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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George Jean Nathan (February 14, 1882 – April 8, 1958) was an Americandramacritic andmagazine editor. He worked closely as an editor withH. L. Mencken bringing the literary magazineThe Smart Set to prominence and while co-founding and editingThe American Mercury andThe American Spectator.
Nathan was born inFort Wayne, Indiana, on February 14, 1882, the son of Ella (Nirdlinger) and Charles Naret Nathan.[1] He was graduated fromCornell University in 1904. There, he was a member of theQuill and Dagger society and an editor ofThe Cornell Daily Sun.
Nathan had a reputation as a "ladies' man" and the character of Addison De Witt, the waspish theater critic who squires a starlet (played by a then-unknownMarilyn Monroe) in the 1950 filmAll About Eve was based on Nathan.[2][3]
Beginning in the late 1920s, Nathan had a romantic relationship with actressLillian Gish that lasted almost a decade. Gish repeatedly refused his proposals of marriage.[4]
At age 73 in 1955, Nathan marriedJulie Haydon (1910—1994). She was a stage and film actress who debuted on Broadway in 1935.[5] A collection of Nathan-Haydon papers was donated by his wife to the La Crosse Public Library archives inLa Crosse, Wisconsin, her residence at the time of her death.
Nathan died inManhattan in 1958, aged 76. He and his wife are buried together in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.
He wrote only one play, the one-act play entitledThe Eternal Mystery, which premiered in 1913 at the Princess Theatre inManhattan.[6]Owen Hatteras referred to the play as a failure when he quipped that Nathan had "...forbidden the production of the play henceforth in any American city save Chicago, in which city anyone who chooses may perform it without payment of royalties".[7]
Walter Winchell opened one of his 1937 columns with a reference to Nathan as "a tough critic".[8] An honor in dramatic criticism, theGeorge Jean Nathan Award, is named after him. Nathan was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[9]
Often, comments by Nathan are quoted. One example, cited in 2025, is:Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles..[10]
Separate from the collection of papers with his wife, Nathan bequeathed a collection of his letters and papers toCornell University. Among the papers at Cornell are several letters he received fromEugene O'Neill.[11]
Media related toGeorge Jean Nathan at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toGeorge Jean Nathan at Wikiquote
Works by or aboutGeorge Jean Nathan atWikisource
