Arthur Richman

Biography

Playwright and Hollywood screenwriter Arthur Richman was born in New York City on April 16, 1886 to William and Janice (or Jennie) Reichman. His father, a native of Fürth, Bavaria, became a successful merchant after coming to America in the mid 1870s at around the age of twenty. Richman's mother was born in New York around 1865, the daughter of German immigrants. A younger sister, Metha, rounded out the family in 1892 Arthur Richman was a leading playwright in the 1920s and 30s, having produced eleven Broadway plays before Hollywood beckoned in the mid 1930s. He was probably best remembered for the plays "Ambush" (1922) and "The Awful Truth" (1924). Richman married actress Madeline Marshall (Madeline Schueler) in 1925 while in London, England. A son, John Marshall Richman, was born to this union before they divorced in the late 20s. John would go on to hold a number of corporate positions, including chairman and chief executive officer of Kraft Foods (1979-1989). Richman served as president of the Society of American Dramatist and Composers from 1925 to 1927 and the Author's League of America from 1928 to 1930. During the Second World War he was named director of the American Theater Wing War Service, an organization that began as an auxiliary of British War Relief and would later operate the famous Stage Door Canteen in New York City. Arthur Richman suffered a heart attack on Friday, the 8th of September, 1944 and passed away two days later at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York City. He had recently returned to the city to resume his theater work and at the time of his death had just finished the second act of his new play. US Passport Application March 29, 1921, New York Times March 20, 1935, Dunkirk Evening Observer, September 12, 1944, Kingsport Times 11 Sep 1944, Billboard Magazine, September 23, 1944, Palm Beach Post - Nov 12, 1997.