Hopwood, (James) Avery

Hopwood, [James] Avery (1882–1928), playwright. One of the most successful dramatists of his day, he was born in Cleveland, and educated at the University of Michigan. Like many other contemporary playwrights he spent time as a newspaperman before seeing his first play, Clothes (1906), produced. Hopwood never laid claim to serious artistic pretensions, wanting only to be a successful, respected commercial craftsman. He worked alone or with collaborators (often with Mary Roberts Rinehart) and frequently wrote to order. More often than not his plays were looked upon as risqué, although only once did the police suggest he had overstepped the line of decency. His most successful works were Seven Days (1909), Nobody's Widow (1910), Fair and Warmer (1915), The Gold Diggers (1919), The Girl in the Limousine (1919), Ladies' Night (1920), Spanish Love (1920), The Bat (1920), Getting Gertie's Garter (1921), The Demi‐Virgin (1921), Why Men Leave Home (1922), Little Miss Bluebeard (1923), The Best People (1924), The Harem (1924), and Naughty Cinderella (1925). Brooks Atkinson wrote, “The mechanical formula for play‐writing that made the value of American drama negligible was perfect for Hopwood, and he developed it with the skill and polish of an ingenious workman.” A tall, thin man with blue eyes and blond hair, he was known for his exceedingly grave expression. That demeanor apparently masked serious private problems, for Hopwood eventually became a heavy drinker and may have committed suicide by drowning himself in the Mediterranean. He left his alma mater a large bequest to be made the basis of an annual playwriting award. Biography: Avery Hopwood: His Life and Plays, Jack F. Sharrar, 1989.