Alexander Woollcott

@Critic, Life Achievements and Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Alexander Woollcott was a renowned American drama critic, essayist, playwright, editor, actor & radio personality New Jersey American Media Personalities Journalists Writers Capricorn Celebrities Alexander Humphreys Woollcott was an American critic and commentator of “The New Yorker” magazine. He was also a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a much celebrated group of writers, critics and actors. He started his career as a bank clerk before joining as a reporter at “The New York Times”. His poor eyesight and physique restricted him from joining the military service during the World War I. As a renowned drama critic of New York, his usage of bitter wit used to attract or repel the artistic communities of 1920s Manhattan. For a brief period, he also faced a ban from reviewing some Broadway theater shows. He used to write for a number of magazines - “Reader’s Digest” was one of those. He faced criticism for his application of ornate and florid writing style. In spite of that, critic Vincent Starrett referred Woollcott’s book “While Rome Burns” as one of the fifty-two ‘best loved books of the twentieth century’. He also made a successful career in radio. During the World War II, he made several broadcast in England at the behest of the BBC. Woollcott was also the inspiration for the main character in the play ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner’ by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

Personal Details

Birthday: January 19, 1887 Died on: January 23, 1943 Nationality: American Famous: Critic, Media Personalities, Journalists, Writers City/State: New Jersey Siblings: Billy Woollcott Universities: Hamilton College Information Detail Birthday January 19, 1887 Died on January 23, 1943 Nationality American Famous Critic, Media Personalities, Journalists, Writers City/State New Jersey Siblings Billy Woollcott Universities Hamilton College Birth Place Red Bank, New Jersey Gender Male Father Walter Woollcott Mother Frances Grey Bucklin Woollcott Sun Sign Capricorn Born in Red Bank, New Jersey Famous as American critic Died at Age 56

Red Bank, New Jersey

Alexander Woollcott born at Unsplash Birth Place

He suffered from mumps when he was in his early twenties. This ailment left him impotent to some extent. He remained a bachelor all through his life. But he had a number of female friends among whom the names of Dorothy Parker and Neysa McMein deserves special mention. Unsplash Personal Life

He suffered a heart attack during a radio broadcast. After a few hours, on account of a cerebral hemorrhage, he passed away at New York’s Roosevelt Hospital at the age of 56. Unsplash Personal Life

Alexander Woollcott was born in Phalanx in New Jersey. He went through poverty his early childhood. Being a voracious reader, he read almost all the literary creation of Charles Dickens when he was very young. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

During his stay in Kansas City, Missouri, he attended Central High School. As a student, Woollcott founded a drama group and was also the editor of the student magazine. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He took several jobs including that of a bank clerk before working as a reporter of “The New York Times” in 1909. Here, he was able to draw the attention of the editor, Carr Van Anda. Unsplash Career

While working as a reporter, he covered the sinking of the Titanic before taking up his passion and profession of a drama critic. He served for this paper till 1922. Unsplash Career

He served in the First World war for the United States - first as an orderly and then as a sergeant. Along with a number of newspaper men, the intelligence section of the American Expeditionary Forces chose him to create an official newspaper to strengthen troop morale. Unsplash Career

As a correspondent of “Stars and Stripes”, he reported about the horrors of the Great War from the viewpoint of a common soldier. After the war, he came back to “The New York Times”. Unsplash Career

In 1922, he served for “The New York Herald”. In the following year, he joined “The World” and served there till 1928. From 1929 to 1934, he used to write a column namely “Shouts and Murmurs” for “The New Yorker”. Unsplash Career

This prominent person was born in an eighty-five room ramshackle building. Known as The Phalanx, this building witnessed a number of social experiments during the middle part of 1880s. Unsplash Trivia

The character of this multi-talented personality was represented by a number of renowned actors. Actor Earl Montgomery in the film ‘Act One’, actor Jock Livingston in ‘Star!’ and actor Tom McGowan in ‘Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle’ played the role of this prominent person. Unsplash Trivia

Information	Detail
Birthday	January 19, 1887
Died on	January 23, 1943
Nationality	American
Famous	Critic, Media Personalities, Journalists, Writers
City/State	New Jersey
Siblings	Billy Woollcott
Universities	Hamilton College
Birth Place	Red Bank, New Jersey
Gender	Male
Father	Walter Woollcott
Mother	Frances Grey Bucklin Woollcott
Sun Sign	Capricorn
Born in	Red Bank, New Jersey
Famous as	American critic
Died at Age	56

Alexander Woollcott

American

Jan 19, 1887

Biography

Personal Details

Red Bank, New Jersey