author
George Kelly
1887–1974
Best known for sharp, funny plays about American middle-class manners, this Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist moved from vaudeville into theater writing with a keen eye for social pretense. His work includes The Torch-Bearers, The Show-Off, and Craig's Wife.
1 Audiobook
The Torch-Bearers: A Satirical Comedy in Three Acts
by George Kelly
About the author
George Kelly was an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor, born in Philadelphia on January 16, 1887. He began in vaudeville as a performer and sketch writer before turning to the stage plays that made his name.
He became known for satiric comedies and dramas that poked at ambition, vanity, and everyday family life. Among his best-known works are The Torch-Bearers (1922), The Show-Off (1924), and Craig's Wife (1925), the last of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Kelly died on June 18, 1974, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He is also remembered as part of a prominent theatrical family that included his niece Grace Kelly, but his own reputation rests on his precise, unsentimental portraits of American behavior.