Alan Dale

Born Alfred J. Cohen in Birmingham, England, Alan Dale became known as an influential drama critic, playwright, and author. After studying dramatic art in Paris, he moved to New York in 1887 and built a newspaper career writing about the theater for major publications including the New York Evening World, the New York Journal, and the New York American.

He developed a reputation for vivid, sometimes cutting reviews, and he was a recognizable voice in American theater journalism during a lively era for the stage. Alongside criticism, he wrote novels, plays, and theater books, showing a strong interest in performance, celebrity, and backstage life.

Readers also remember him for A Marriage Below Zero, a novel often noted for its unusually early treatment of male homosexuality in English-language fiction. He died in 1928, but his work still offers a window into the theatrical world of his time.