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Dorothy Parker

ドロシー・パーカー

Dorothy Parker

Aliases: Dot / Dottie / Dorothy Rothschild
Pen Names: Constant Reader（Pseudonym used for book reviews in The New Yorker）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1893-08-22 （Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.）
Died
1967-06-07 （New York City, U.S.） age 73
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Jewish (paternal) / Protestant (maternal)
Residence History
Long Branch, New Jersey (birthplace) → New York City (Upper West Side, Volney Apartments) → Hollywood, California → Bucks County area (near New Hope), Pennsylvania → Baltimore (site of memorial garden)

Career

Occupations
Author, Poet, Critic, Screenwriter
Active Years
1914-1967
Affiliations
Algonquin Round Table (founding member), Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee (chaired fundraising arm)
Memberships
Algonquin Round Table, Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
Influenced By
P. G. Wodehouse, O. Henry, Contemporary New York critics/wits (e.g. Robert Benchley)
Influenced
S. J. Perelman, Later 20th-century satirists and short-story writers

Education

Convent of the Blessed Sacrament (elementary school)
Period: 幼年期
Country: United States
Attended Roman Catholic elementary school in childhood
Miss Dana's School (finishing school)
Period: 〜1911年
Year of Graduation: 1911
Country: United States
Attended until about 1911; sources conflict on whether she formally graduated from high school

Awards

O. Henry Award
1929
Work: Big Blonde
Organization: O. Henry Award committee
Result: winner
Academy Award (Writing/Screenplay)
1938
Work: A Star Is Born
Category: 脚本
Organization: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result: nominated
Academy Award (Writing: Motion Picture Story)
1948
Work: Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman
Category: ストーリー／脚本
Organization: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result: nominated

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Enough Rope

1926 Poetry 120 pages

Dorothy Parker's first volume of poetry, featuring short, acerbic poems and epigrams that established her reputation for wit.

urban lifefailed loveself-mockerysuicidal longing
Translations
  • Multiple Japanese translations exist

Big Blonde

1929 Short story 30 pages

A story about a woman's loneliness and the pressures of society; widely praised and winner of the 1929 O. Henry Award.

lonelinesswomen's social rolesself-destruction

A Star Is Born

1937 Screenplay (film)

Screenplay for the 1937 film; Parker and collaborators received an Academy Award nomination for the writing.

fame and declinelove and sacrifice
Adaptations
  • [Film] A Star Is Born / William A. Wellman et al. (1937)

Bibliography

  • Enough Rope (1926)
  • Sunset Gun (1928)
  • Death and Taxes (1931)
  • Laments for the Living (1930, short stories)
  • After Such Pleasures (1933, short stories)
  • Here Lies (1939, collected stories)
  • The Portable Dorothy Parker (1944)
  • Not So Deep as a Well (1936, poems)
  • Complete Poems (1999, collected)

Adaptations

  • A Star Is Born (1937 film, screenplay participation)
  • The Fan (1949 film, contributed dialogue)
  • Hate Songs by Marcus Paus (2014, settings of Parker's poems)
  • Opera 'Men I'm Not Married To' by Lisa DeSpain & Rachel J. Peters (2021)

Translations of Works

  • Multiple Japanese translations of Enough Rope and other works exist

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Acerbic, witty short poems and proseSatirical, sharp criticismConversational and soliloquy-style narration
Recurring Motifs
urban ennuifailed romantic relationshipsalcohol and self-destructionself-mockery and darkly comic suicidal longing

Health

  • Depression (including multiple suicide attempts)
    1920年代〜1950年代以降
    Affected both creative work and personal life; led to intermittent treatment, hospitalizations, and interruptions in productivity
  • Alcohol dependence (alcohol problems)
    1930年代〜晩年
    Contributed to strained relationships and professional difficulties, especially during Hollywood years

Legacy

Dorothy Parker is remembered for her acerbic wit and masterful short stories. Through contributions to The New Yorker and the Algonquin Round Table she influenced American literary culture; her legacy endures via her writings, a memorial garden maintained by the NAACP, commemorative honors, and continuing adaptations and references in popular culture.

Museums

  • Dorothy Parker Memorial Garden (NAACP, Baltimore) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Opened in 1988
  • Algonquin Hotel (plaque / landmark) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. Opened in 1987

Academic Societies

  • New Jersey Hall of Fame

Archives

  • Alan Campbell and Dorothy Parker Collection (University of Michigan)
  • Viking Press-related archives and various library collections

In Popular Culture

  • Portrayals on film/stage/TV (e.g. Jennifer Jason Leigh in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle)
  • Musical settings and operatic adaptations (Marcus Paus settings, 2021 opera, etc.)

Quotes

  • Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.
    Source: Poem 'News Item' (1926)
  • As she suggested for an epitaph, 'Excuse my dust.'
    Source: Will / memorial references (1967)

Trivia

  • Bequeathed her estate to Martin Luther King Jr.; upon his death her estate passed to the NAACP.
  • Won the 1929 O. Henry Award for 'Big Blonde'.
  • Her ashes were unclaimed for years before being placed in an NAACP memorial garden; they were reinterred in New York in 2020.