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Robert Emmet Sherwood

ロバート・エメット・シャーウッド

Rōbāto Emetto Shāuddo

Aliases: Robert E. Sherwood

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1896-04-04 （New Rochelle, New York）
Died
1955-11-14 （New York City） age 59
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
New Rochelle, New York → New York City

Career

Occupations
playwright, screenwriter, historian, author, film critic
Active Years
1920-1955
Affiliations
Algonquin Round Table, Playwrights' Company, Dramatists Guild of America
Memberships
Dramatists Guild of America

Education

Fay School
Country: United States
elementary school
Milton Academy
Country: United States
preparatory school
Harvard University
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1914-1917
Year of Graduation: 1917
Country: United States

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1936
Work: Idiot's Delight
Category: Drama
Organization: Columbia University
Result: winner
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1939
Work: Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Category: Drama
Organization: Columbia University
Result: winner
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1941
Work: There Shall Be No Night
Category: Drama
Organization: Columbia University
Result: winner
Academy Award for Best Screenplay
1947
Work: The Best Years of Our Lives
Organization: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result: winner
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography
1948
Work: Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History
Category: Biography
Organization: Columbia University
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Idiot's Delight

1936 play

A satire set in a European hotel on the eve of war, highlighting the absurdity of conflict.

futility of warhuman folly
Adaptations
  • [film] Idiot's Delight / Clarence Brown (1939)

Abe Lincoln in Illinois

1938 play

A historical play depicting the life of Abraham Lincoln.

growth of a leaderdemocracy
Adaptations
  • [film] Abe Lincoln in Illinois / John Cromwell (1940)

Waterloo Bridge

1930 play

Tragic love story amid war.

war's tolllove and sacrifice
Adaptations
  • [film] Waterloo Bridge / James Whale (1931)
  • [film] Waterloo Bridge / Mervyn LeRoy (1940)

The Best Years of Our Lives

1946 screenplay

Portrays the struggles of returning WWII veterans. Academy Award winner.

post-war readjustmentveterans' struggles

Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History

1948 biography

Intimate history of FDR and Harry Hopkins. Pulitzer winner.

politicsWorld War II

Bibliography

  • The Road to Rome
  • The Love Nest
  • The Queen's Husband
  • Waterloo Bridge
  • This Is New York
  • Reunion in Vienna
  • Acropolis
  • The Petrified Forest
  • Tovarich
  • Idiot's Delight
  • Abe Lincoln in Illinois
  • There Shall Be No Night
  • The Rugged Path
  • Miss Liberty
  • Small War on Murray Hill
  • Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History
  • The Best Moving Pictures of 1922-1923

Translations by Author

  • Tovarich (from French)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
witty dialogueanti-war themesentertainment-focused
Recurring Motifs
futility of warhuman folly

Health

  • gassed and wounded
    第一次世界大戦（1917-1918）
    long-term health impairment
  • heart attack
    1955年
    cause of death

Legacy

A giant of 20th-century American theater, winner of four Pulitzer Prizes for Drama, an Academy Award, and more. Member of the Algonquin Round Table, known for anti-war themed works.

Archives

  • Houghton Library, Harvard University

In Popular Culture

  • Portrayed by Nick Cassavetes in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.

Quotes

  • The trouble with me is that I start with a big message and end up with nothing but good entertainment.
    Source: Statement to gossip columnist Lucius Beebe

Trivia

  • Stood 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm) tall. Dorothy Parker compared him walking with friends to a 'walking pipe organ.'
  • Subject of height jokes, including by Groucho Marx.