Jerome Herman Dean

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Show Shop, The (1914), a play by James Forbes. [Hudson Theatre, 156 perf.] Max Rosenbaum ( George Sidney), a shoestring but eternally optimistic Broadway producer, learns that his leading lady and leading man have walked out on him on the eve of the dress rehearsal for his new play. He hastily signs Bettina Dean ( Patricia Collinge) as his leading lady, even though his sour‐tongued director Wilbur Tompkins ( Ned A. Sparks) warns him that Bettina's notorious mother ( Zelda Sears) will always be on hand. Jerome Belden ( Douglas Fairbanks), a handsome young man‐about‐town, loves Bettina, but Mrs. Dean, recalling that marriage destroyed her chance to become a star, will not hear of it for her daughter. To be with Bettina, Jerry offers to underwrite the play and assume the role of leading man. The play is so bad it folds out of town, but Mrs. Dean insists that there will be no marriage until her daughter becomes a star on Broadway. Jerry then pays Rosenbaum $5,000 to produce another play, with the stipulation that it must flop but also that it must play at least one night in New York with Bettina as star. To make certain it fails Rosenbaum again casts Jerry as his leading man. The play is called A Drop of Poison, but Mrs. Dean orders it renamed Dora's Dilemma after Bettina's role. Although Jerry's performance is as bad as the play, the critics love it. Taking the bull by the horns, however, Bettina and Jerry announce they are leaving the show and marrying. Since Mrs. Dean has realized her wish, a compromise is reached that allows the youngsters to marry but to stay with the play for its run. Called by Walter Prichard Eaton “the most pungent, amusing, and yet the most kindly satire of stage life and the shams of theatrical production, yet written by an American,” this neglected gem is a superbly written comedy, rich in backstage lore and especially in its marvelous portrait of the classic stage mother.

Kay, Kai, Keerz, Keu. Seneschal of King Arthur in English romance, derived from the Welsh Arthurian figure Cei, whom he resembles. The English Sir Kay is always a somewhat irascible and churlish retainer, even though he is Arthur's foster-brother and frequent companion in adventure.

Bibliography

See H. J. Herman , ‘Sir Kay: A Study of the Character of the Seneschal of King Arthur's Court’, dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1960;
Jürgen Haupt , Der Truchsess Keie im Artusroman (Berlin, 1971);
Christopher Dean, ‘Sir Kay in Medieval English Romances: An Alternative Tradition’, English Studies in Canada, 9 (1983), 125–35.

Jerome Herman Dean (Dizzy Dean), 1911–74, American baseball player, b. Lucas, Ark. His name was originally Jay Hanna Dean. A colorful right-handed pitcher, Dean performed brilliantly (1930–37) for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League. After his pitching arm was injured he was traded (1938) to the Chicago Cubs but retired three years later. Dean became (1941) a sportscaster on radio and television and was noted for his picturesque descriptions of baseball games. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Bibliography: See R. Gregory, Diz (1992).

Kay ♀, ♂ Pet form of any of the various names beginning with the letter K- (compare Dee and Jay), most notably Katherine and its many variants. It is also used independently. As a boy's name it may in part make reference to the name of the Arthurian knight Sir Kay, although he is not a particularly attractive character. His name is probably a Celticized form of Latin Gaius, an ancient Roman personal name of uncertain derivation. As a girl's name it was famous as that of the actress Kay Kendall (1926–59, original name Justine McCarthy).

Kay •affray, agley, aka, allay, Angers, A-OK, appellation contrôlée, array, assay, astray, au fait, auto-da-fé, away, aweigh, aye, bay, belay, betray, bey, Bombay, Bordet, boulevardier, bouquet, brae, bray, café au lait, Carné, cassoulet, Cathay, chassé, chevet, chez, chiné, clay, convey, Cray, crème brûlée, crudités, cuvée, cy-pres, day, decay, deejay, dégagé, distinguée, downplay, dray, Dufay, Dushanbe, eh, embay, engagé, essay, everyday, faraway, fay, fey, flay, fray, Frey, fromage frais, gainsay, gay, Gaye, Genet, gilet, glissé, gray, grey, halfway, hay, heigh, hey, hooray, Hubei, Hué, hurray, inveigh, jay, jeunesse dorée, José, Kay, Kaye, Klee, Kray, Lae, lay, lei, Littré, Lough Neagh, lwei, Mae, maguey, Malay, Mallarmé, Mandalay, Marseilles, may, midday, midway, mislay, misplay, Monterrey, Na-Dene, nay, né, née, neigh, Ney, noway, obey, O'Dea, okay, olé, outlay, outplay, outstay, outweigh, oyez, part-way, pay, Pei, per se, pince-nez, play, portray, pray, prey, purvey, qua, Quai d'Orsay, Rae, rangé, ray, re, reflet, relevé, roman-à-clef, Santa Fé, say, sei, Shar Pei, shay, slay, sleigh, sley, spae, spay, Spey, splay, spray, stay, straightaway, straightway, strathspey, stray, Sui, survey, sway, Taipei, Tay, they, today, tokay, Torbay, Tournai, trait, tray, trey, two-way, ukiyo-e, underlay, way, waylay, Wei, weigh, wey, Whangarei, whey, yea