Clyde Fitch

Clyde Fitch (William Clyde Fitch), 1865-1909, American dramatist, b. Elmira, N.Y. An extremely prolific and versatile playwright, he wrote over 36 original plays, including melodramas, farces, social comedies, and historical dramas. Much of his best work reflects American social life of the period. Among his most notable plays are Nathan Hale (1898), The Climbers (1901), The Girl with the Green Eyes (1902), The Truth (1907), and The City (1909). His works were popular both in the United States and in Europe.

Fitch, [William] Clyde (1865–1909), author of more than 30 popular plays, usually vehicles for specific stars. Barbara Frietchie (1899) was written for Julia Marlowe, Nathan Hale (1899) for Nat Goodwin, Beau Brummell (1890) for Richard Mansfield, and Her Great Match (1905) for Maxine Elliott. Fitch was extremely versatile, writing farces, society dramas, historical plays, and problem plays, always with an understanding of what would be effective on the stage. Serious studies of the social, financial, and political aspects of New York City are contained in The Climbers (1901) and The City (1909). His popular farce, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901), was revised in 1925 as a musical comedy. The Girl with the Green Eyes (1902), a psychological study of jealousy, is generally considered to be his most important work. His collected plays were edited by M.J. Moses (1915).

Fitch, (William) Clyde (1865–1909), American dramatist, author of nearly 60 plays, of which the first, Beau Brummell (1890), was commissioned by Richard Mansfield. The best of Fitch's early works were Nathan Hale (1898) and Barbara Frietchie (1899), based on American history and mingling personal and political problems in marked contrast to his subsequent light comedies. In 1901 The Climbers and Lovers' Lane, social comedies of life in New York, and Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, in which Ethel Barrymore first appeared as a star, were running simultaneously in New York, while in London Tree was producing The Last of the Dandies. Many of Fitch's plays were written to order for certain stars, among them The Moth and the Flame (1898) and The Cowboy and the Lady (1899), both melodramas, The Stubbornness of Geraldine, dealing with the American abroad, The Girl with the Green Eyes, about jealousy (both 1902), and The Truth (1907), sometimes considered his best play. One of America's best-loved playwrights, Fitch was excellent at pin-pointing certain aspects of contemporary and domestic life; but his social observation was marred by his deference to the prevailing fashion for melodrama.