Clyde Fitch

Born in Elmira, New York, in 1865, Clyde Fitch became one of the most successful American playwrights of his era. He studied at Amherst College and went on to build an unusually busy writing career, producing dozens of plays for the stage.

Fitch was known for his range: he wrote comedies, society dramas, historical works, and adaptations, and he had a strong instinct for the rhythms of contemporary life. His work was closely tied to the commercial theater world of New York, where he became a central figure in the years before World War I.

When he died in 1909, he left behind a remarkable body of work and a reputation as a writer who helped define American popular drama in the Gilded Age and early twentieth century.