Connelly, Marc

Connelly, Marc

(Marcus Cook Connelly) (kŏn`əlē), 1890–1981, American dramatist, b. McKeesport, Pa. He is best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning play The Green Pastures (1930), a fantasy of biblical history presented in terms of the religious life of Southern blacks; it was based on Roark Bradford's book Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun (1928). Connelly also collaborated with George S. Kaufman on the plays Dulcy (1921), To the Ladies (1922), Merton of the Movies (1922), and Beggar on Horseback (1924). He published his first novel, A Souvenir from Quam in 1965; it satirizes spy stories.

Bibliography

See his memoirs (1968).

Connelly, (Marcus Cook) Marc

(1890–1980) writer; born in McKeesport, Pa. A transplanted Pittsburgh drama critic, he was prominent in New York's literary and theatrical world in the 1920s as a founder of the New Yorker (1925) and member of the Algonquin Round Table. He collaborated with George S. Kaufman on half a dozen hit plays and musicals (1921–24) and wrote radio scripts, screenplays, and drama (including Green Pastures (1930, Pulitzer Prize)). He wrote his last play for Helen Hayes in 1977.