Shirley Warde Explained

Shirley Warde
Birth Date:January 23, 1901
Birth Place:Washington Heights, Manhattan, United States
Death Place:Belize City, Belize
Occupation:Actress
Playwright
Years Active:1917 - 1965
Notable Works:Smooth as Silk (actress)
Deep Yellow (actress)
Trick for Trick (writer)
Children:1

Shirley Warde (January 23, 1901 - October 1991) was an American actress and playwright who starred in theater productions throughout the 1910s through the 1930s, movie productions from the 1930s through the 1940s, and produced theater and radio play scripts for most of her life from the 1920s onwards. Born and raised in New York City, she attended the Ethical Culture School for theater from a young age and began starring in shows even while still a teenager. She received multiple female lead character roles and was well known for her ambition to produce and direct theater as well.

While publishing short stories in popular magazines, Warde also began focusing more on script writing, officially abandoning theater in 1934 to move into radio production. This also led her to join the Writers' War Board during World War II. Throughout her adult life, she also heavily participated in the Baháʼí Faith, eventually traveling to Belize in the 1960s as a missionary and deciding to remain there as a local playwright.

Career

Born in Washington Heights, Manhattan,[1] Warde first began acting at the age of six when she put together a self-written play for her Ethical Culture School. At the drama school, she was taught by Ada Currier and worked on writing several plays in addition to acting.[2] Her official debut was at fourteen in the cast of The Merry Wives of Windsor production at the Criterion Theatre. The theatre roles she had available expanded afterwards, leading to her having a major position in The Music Master and a series of stock company performances in the years following at the theater she personally opened and organized.[3] Her follow-up major casting was as the female lead in Smooth as Silk. The play's massive success facilitated her lead positions in most productions afterwards, such as playing the "wicked woman" in the 1926 production of Yellow.[4]

At the same time, she also had her own thoughts about plays and began writing pieces of plots and scripts in her free time, constantly carrying a notepad and pencil whenever she left home.[4] She stated in a 1922 interview with The Boston Globe that she strongly desired to become a theater producer and be involved in every part of production, including choosing the cast and the sets, even directing.[2] In 1924, she submitted her play script for What's the Use to a best American screenwriter competition. Rupert Hughes suggested to her in 1927 that she take her notes and put together full stories that could be submitted to magazines,[4] which she started doing with her short stories in publications such as Nash's Magazine[5] and Cosmopolitan.

By that time, she had also finished writing two full plays, which had already seen use by the stock company she had created in years prior. The manuscripts were being considered for full theatre production by separate theater managers in 1927.[6] One of her stories was later in 1929 chosen for production in Samuel Goldwyn's talkies and Warde began working on a novel about theatrical life with Vivien Crosby as her co-author.[7] During the same time period when she published her short story The Economist in the New York Daily News in 1934, Warde had officially quit acting and moved into radio broadcasting.[8]

Warde joined the commercial production department of the Columbia Broadcasting Company in 1934[9] and was noted by Peter Dixon in The World-News as having made "a reputation as one of the most skillful producers and directors in radio."[10] She ended up being writer and assistant producer for the Charlie McCarthy radio show.[11] After the United States entered into World War II, she joined the Writers' War Board and began producing radio plays for the war effort.[12]

Theater

Writer

Actress

Radio

Writer

Filmography

Personal life

During her theatre years, Warde lived in an apartment next to Central Park so she could engage in her hobby of horse riding.[4] She married Reginald Warde and they had a daughter together. But she filed for divorce in September 1925, citing his abandonment of the family on July 26, 1925.[40] In March 1927, Warde inherited her late uncle's horse farm in Mansfield, Wyoming and its 500 horses. She planned to not only breed more Blue Ribbon winning saddle horses, but also organized with New York City mayor Jimmy Walker to have some of the horses be used in Central Park and in summer camps so children could enjoy them.[41]

Warde was a member of the Baháʼí Faith and frequently attended the annual public conference.[3] [42] She later became an expatriate to Belize as a missionary for the Baháʼí Faith in the 1960s and stayed longer than expected to produce local plays.[43]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: . February 29, 1920 . Miss Warde And Her Ambition . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: . May 14, 1922 . Shirley Warde Has Grand Ambitions . The Boston Globe. May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  3. News: . October 12, 1932 . Shirley Warde Helping Baha'i . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  4. News: Silver . Ann Ruth . December 9, 1928 . A Stage Scarlet Lady Displays Other Tints . . May 7, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: . July 27, 1928 . Nash's Magazine . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  6. News: . March 21, 1927 . Shirley Warde a Playwright . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: . October 6, 1929 . Here's An Actress Who Writes Fiction . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Warde . Shirley . May 5, 1934 . The Economist . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: . February 16, 1935 . Bergen Residents File Petitions In Newark Federal Court . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Dixon . Peter . June 28, 1935 . Studio Chatter . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Armstrong . Dale . January 23, 1938 . Notes On An Envelope . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: . February 19, 1943 . Successful Radio Program Given . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: . March 13, 1924 . Theatre Notes . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: . May 1, 1930 . Moss to Produce . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: . October 12, 1930 . Play, Not Planes, On Mears' Mind . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  16. News: . March 17, 1931 . Eunice Keeper Has Best Role In Play At Jeff . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  17. News: Mantle . Burns . February 19, 1932 . "Trick for Trick" Full of Tricks . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  18. News: . September 13, 1917 . Warfield In "Music Master" . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  19. News: . October 12, 1919 . Coming To Academy . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  20. News: . September 8, 1921 . In The Theaters . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  21. News: . January 30, 1924 . An Excellent Comedy . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  22. News: . July 15, 1925 . Theater . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  23. News: . September 26, 1925 . Music Literature Drama . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  24. News: . November 13, 1925 . Excellent Bill Is Offered at Proctor's . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  25. News: . May 16, 1926 . Changing Playbills . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  26. News: . November 7, 1926 . Shirley Warde . . May 7, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  27. News: . February 19, 1927 . Notes of the Theater . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  28. News: Mantle . Burns . March 1, 1927 . Craven Is Back With "Money From Home" . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  29. News: . May 22, 1927 . Majestic Theatre . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  30. News: . October 21, 1927 . "Among Married" At Masque Nov. 1 . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  31. News: . January 1, 1928 . Wronged Girl of "Yellow" Acts in "Red Dust" . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  32. News: Mantle . Burns . January 16, 1929 . 'House Unguarded' Is Both Novel and Exciting Vehicle . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  33. News: . December 26, 1928 . Parson's . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  34. News: Field . Rowland . October 15, 1929 . George Kelly's Play, "Maggie the Magnificent," At Werba's Brooklyn . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  35. News: . July 13, 1933 . Teaneck Actress In Suffern Play . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  36. News: . March 15, 1942 . Little Cog . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  37. Book: Hanson, Patricia King . 1993 . The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931-1940 · Volumes 1-3 . . 725. 978-0-520-07908-3.
  38. Book: Berlin, Howard M. . 2000 . The Charlie Chan Film Encyclopedia . . 251. 978-0-7864-0709-5 .
  39. News: Worden . Virginia . February 27, 1941 . Granada Shows Karloff Film . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  40. News: . September 25, 1925 . Shirley Warde Seeks Decree; Cites 'Desertion' . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  41. News: . March 17, 1927 . Actress Inherits 500 Horses; Aims for Blue Ribbon Here . . May 8, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  42. News: . July 1, 1935 . Unity Feast Is Held By Baha'is . . May 9, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  43. Book: Phillips . Michael D. . 1996 . Belize: Selected Proceedings from the Second Interdisciplinary Conference . . 117 . 9780761802464.

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