Nathan, George Jean

Nathan, George Jean (1882–1958), critic. Probably the most famous and respected drama critic of his day, he was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and educated at Cornell and the University of Bologna. His uncle, the critic and playwright Charles Frederic Nirdlinger, obtained a post for him on the New York Herald in 1905, but Nathan soon quit to become critic for two magazines, Outing and The Bohemian. Two years later he moved to The Smart Set, where his name was first associated with that of H. L. Mencken, the pair becoming its co‐editors in 1914. From the start, Nathan railed against the shallowness and hollowness of the theatre of his day and advocated a drama of ideas and the plays of such men as Ibsen, Strindberg, and Shaw. He was the first important critic to extol the genius of Eugene O'Neill, publishing O'Neill's early work in The Smart Set, and in later years he championed the plays of Sean O'Casey and William Saroyan. But Nathan also understood that the theatre thrived by being entertaining, so he endorsed many a flippant comedy and light‐hearted musical. Indeed, as the American musical became more pretentiously artful, he was one of the few critics to maintain affection for the older style. After leaving The Smart Set, he founded The American Mercury with Mencken in 1924 and co‐edited it with him until 1930. He also founded The American Spectator in 1932 with O'Neill and others. His criticisms appeared in numerous other magazines and papers, including Puck, Judge, Vanity Fair, and The Saturday Review of Literature. Among his notable books devoted to the theatre were Mr. George Jean Nathan Presents (1917), The Popular Theatre (1918), Comedians All (1919), The Theatre, The Drama, The Girls (1921), The Critic and the Drama (1922), The Testament of the Critic (1931), Since Ibsen (1933), The Theatre of the Moment (1936), and Encyclopedia of the Theatre (1940). From 1943 until shortly before his death, he edited The Theatre Book of the Year. His will established the George Jean Nathan Award “to encourage and assist in developing the art of drama criticism and the stimulation of intelligent theatre going.”