Richard Walton Tully

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Tully, Richard Walton (1877–1945), playwright. He was born in Nevada City, California, and educated at the University of California. His first work, The Strenuous Life, was mounted briefly in Los Angeles by Oliver Morosco but never brought East. However, the men later collaborated again to score a major success with The Bird of Paradise (1912). Its popularity prompted one of the most famous lawsuits in American theatrical history. A schoolteacher, Grace Fendler, sued, claiming the drama was plagiarized from her In Hawaii. She was awarded $608,000, but an appellate court reversed the decision and made her pay all legal costs. Tully's other successes were The Rose of the Rancho (1906), Omar the Tentmaker (1914), and The Flame (1916). He also directed some of his own plays, as well as directing and occasionally producing others' works, notably Poor Little Rich Girl (1913), The Masquerader (1917), and Keep Her Smiling (1918). Recognizing that his brand of melodramatic romance had lost its appeal to playgoers, Tully worked for a while in films and then became a noted rancher and breeder of horses.