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Clare Boothe Luce

CLARE BOOTHE LUCE

  (1903 - 1987)
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    ICM Partners  

Clare Boothe Luce, the daughter of a successful businessman, was born in New York City on April 10, 1903. Clare was privately educated and graduated from Miss Mason's School in Tarrytown in 1919. Later she briefly attended Clare Tree Major's School of Theatre. Clare married George Brokaw on August 10, 1923. The following year Clare gave birth to their daughter, Ann, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1929. The following year she joined the staff of the fashion magazine "Vogue," as an editorial assistant. Later she became managing editor of "Vanity Fair." In November 1935, Clare married Henry Luce. He was the owner of "Time" and the business magazine "Fortune." The following year he began publishing the picture magazine "Life." Over the next few years Clare Luce became a successful playwright. Her plays include THE WOMEN (1936), KISS THE BOYS GOODBYE (1938), and MARGIN FOR ERROR (1939). During the early days of the Second World War she reported for "Life" on events in Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, and China. A member of the Republican Party, Clare Luce was elected to Congress in 1942 and represented Connecticut for the next four years. In 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed her ambassador to Italy; the first American woman ambassador to a major country, she held the post until resigning in 1957. Two years later Eisenhower appointed her ambassador to Brazil. The opposition to her appointment in Congress was led by Wayne Morse of Oregon. Clare commented that Morse's actions were the result of him being "kicked in the head by a horse." This remark proved so controversial that Clare resigned the ambassadorship a few days later. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed Clare to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. With that, she moved from Honolulu to an apartment in the Watergate complex in Washington. She served on the board until 1983, the year Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Clare Boothe Luce died on October 9, 1987.

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below is a list of Clare Boothe Luce's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Abide With Me         Child Of the Morning         Kiss the Boys Good-Bye         Margin For Error         Slam the Door Softly         Women, The

Abide With Me

Synopsis:
an abusive marriage

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ritz Theatre, New York     21 Nov 1935

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Child Of the Morning

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kiss the Boys Good-Bye

Synopsis:
Cindy Lou Bethany is a Southern lamb in a houseparty of cynical, cold Northern wolves. She confidently expects to be chosen for the role of Velvet O'toole in the movie version of the novel, "Kiss the Boys Good-Bye," a popular Southern tale that has swept the nation. (a not-too-subtle reference to "Gone with the Wind.") after making a spectacle of herself, Cindy Lou wakes up to complete disillusionment, but not to defeat. Visions of the shame of General Sherman and a long line of Southern gentlemen and ladies will not permit her to accept defeat at the hands of Damn Yankees. Cindy Lou learns she has been brought to see the film's famous producer as part of a plot by the director, who wants to cast an actress friend in part of Velvet, and hopes that the contrast between that actress and the inept Southern belle will do the trick. But Cindy Lou brings all her charm to bear, and precipitates amazing crises. and as a result the blase house guests learn a few things, and the Northerners are completely routed. In the end, Cindy Lou finds she may have anything she wants, and she is not slow to make her choice.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Henry Miller's Theatre, New York     28 Sep 1938

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Margin For Error

Synopsis:
the Nazi Consul in New York is so odious that he tries to force his secretary to commit suicide so that he will not reveal the Consul's theft of funds. Certain facts of importance to the German government have been leaking out of the Consul's office, and he is being recalled to Berlin. Knowing of his wife's affection for an American newspaper man, the Consul suspects her of being the informer, and he threatens to deport her to Germany unless her lover brings out new headings in his favor. In addition to the stolen funds, the Consul has accepted bribes from a Dr. Jennings, whose daughter and son-in-law are in a concentration camp, supposedly to set them free. When the Doctor finds the Consul has failed to keep his promises, (his daughter has died and his son-in-law has gone insane) he shoots the Consul as he sits listening to a blaring radio speech of Hitler's. all of the other's in the room had their backs to the Consul so no one saw the crime committed. as he attempts to solve the crime a vastly entertaining Jewish policeman slips in some of the shrewdest and most humorous ribbing you will find anywhere. To add to his bewilderment, it is revealed that the Consul has also been stabbed and poisoned!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Plymouth Theatre, New York     03 Nov 1939

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
MeloDrama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Slam the Door Softly

Synopsis:
the scene is a suburban living room, where husband Thaw Wald is watching television, oblivious to the fact that his wife, Nora, has suddenly appeared, suitcase in hand, with the firm intention of leaving him. Her request for "severance pay" shocks him to attention, but despite her careful recital of her reasons for deciding that the time has come to seek her own life -and identify-Thaw cannot grasp the thought that his wife could be dissatisfied. the ensuing conversation makes it clear that the real villain is society, and the outmoded, limiting concepts to which it so often clings, but the die is cast. To Thaw's disbelief Nora leaves, but she "slams the door softly"-for there is still love between them and perhaps, if both try, a meaningful and relevant relationship can yet be found.

Notes:
First published in Life Magazine under the title A DOLL's HOUSe 1970. Inspired by Ibsen's classic Drama, which foreshadowed today's women's liberation movement in its powerful study of A woman determined to establish her individual identity At Any cost. Mrs. Luce's imaginative retelling brings fresh insights And pertinence to this timeless theme.

1st Produced:
-     1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Women, The

Synopsis:
the author carries us through a number of varied scenes and shows us not only a somewhat unflattering picture of womanhood, but digging under the surface, reveals a human understanding for and sympathy with some of its outstanding figures. the plot involves the efforts of a group of women to play their respective roles in an artificial society that consists of vain show, comedy, tragedy, hope and disappointment.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York     26 Dec 1936

Organisations:
the Heights Players

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  35            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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