ACADEMY AWARD WINNER DONALD OGDEN STEWART

His Books And Hollywood Films Made Him An American Literary Titan For Two Decades

At the height of his career, when he was writing Academy Award-winning screenplays and regularly contributing humorous parodies to the nation’s most prestigious journals and magazines, Donald Ogden Stewart also took the time to write for the Deke Quarterly.

Stewart, part of the famed Algonquin Round Table, along with Dorothy Parker, Robert Sherwood, George S. Kaufman, Edna Ferber and others, always recalled his membership in Delta Kappa Epsilon with great fondness.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1894, Stewart was the timid son of a judge who died when Donald was a teen. “I grew up shy,” Stewart wrote in his 1975 autobiography, ‘By a Stroke of Luck,’ but at Yale I was fortunate to be tapped for DKE. Through geniality and wit, I managed to survive and even thrive alongside my Deke brothers. That opened up a new life for me.”

In the years from 1920 until 1950, Stewart became one of America’s leading literary figures. He was a lifelong friend of F. Scott Fitzgerald and was close to Ernest Hemingway until the two had a falling out in the 1940s. His books, screenplays and magazine articles gained him immense fame and popularity.

It might seem odd that Stewart, who partied with Cole Porter and Eugene O’Neill, would occasionally write for the Deke Quarterly in the ’30s and ’40s. But the late Duncan Andrews, a towering figure in DKE history during the second half of the 20th century, believed that at some point Stewart met Bill Henderson, who invited him to contribute to the Quarterly. Henderson, longtime DKE executive secretary and editor of the magazine, introduced himself to Stewart at a post-Broadway show reception, Andrews said.

“It was pretty amazing,” Duncan recalled. “One of the nation’s hottest writers and he’s contributing pieces for our magazine – for free.”

After graduating from Yale, Stewart worked briefly in business before becoming chief quartermaster in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force during World War I. He took up writing after the war and hit it big in 1921 with his humorous piece, “A Parody Outline of History.” Positive reaction to the work earned him an invitation to join the legendary literary figures who met regularly at New York’s Algonquin Hotel.

Stewart and Dorothy Parker became such close friends that in later years they opened a bank account together. His writings often appeared in the New Yorker and other magazines, and he was recruited in 1930 by Hollywood producers to write movie screenplays. In the ensuing years he wrote “The Barretts of Wimpole Street” (1934); “Holiday” (1938); “That Uncertain Feeling” (1941); “Life with Father” (1947); and “Cass Timberlane” (1947), among others. His greatest triumphs came in 1941 when he wrote the Oscar-winning “Philadelphia Story,” starring Cary Grant, James Stewart and Katharine Hepburn.

“The best result of that experience was my deep friendship with Kate, who would remain an important part of my life from that point on,” Stewart wrote in his best-selling autobiography. He became such a popular figure in the movie industry that Stewart was recruited to appear as an extra in several films. He was in such demand that he had the pick of any film project that appealed to him, Parker said. But Stewart, who was a member of the Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee and the Motion Picture Artists Committee to Air Republican Spain, became increasingly involved in political causes.

He became president of the League of American Writers, an organization that attempted “to get writers out of their ivory towers and into the active struggle against Nazism and Fascism.” Friends who joined him in the guild included Dashiell Hammet, Frederic March, Oscar Hammerstein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernst Lubitsch, Mervyn LeRoy, Chico Marx, Benny Goodman and Eddie Cantor.

Parker said.

Katharine Hepburn voiced similar support.

Other leaders in Hollywood in the late 1930s became alarmed by Stewart’s political activities and began distancing themselves from him. “Donald leads with his heart, and I will always be there to stand with him,” Dorothy Parker said. Katharine Hepburn voiced similar support.

Eventually, Stewart joined the American Communist Party. “I didn’t want to stop dancing or enjoying the fun in life,” he wrote. “And my new-found philosophy was an affirmation of the good life, not a rejection of it.”

Eventually, during and after World War II, Stewart said he began to have growing doubts about the Communist Party. He continued to write top films, such as 1943’s “The Keeper of the Flame,” starring Spencer Tracy and Hepburn, but that movie triggered complaints from members of Congress who charged that it had “a left-wing message.” In June, 1950, the names of 151 writers, directors and performers who were thought to have Communist ties were released. The list included Stewart, who did not deny that he had been a part of the American Communist movement. As a result, his writing jobs immediately dried up, yet he refused to name anyone who had been a part of “The Communist Conspiracy.” Instead, he and his wife, at the urging of Katharine Hepburn, moved to England. “Katherine found a home for us and even decorated it herself,” Stewart said.

From there, he would occasionally collaborate with Dalton Trumbo, who produced film screenplays throughout the 1950s under assumed names. “But mostly I retired,” Stewart wrote in his book. “It was a good life and I certainly have no complaints. I met a lot of interesting people along the way.”

Stewart died in England in 1980 at the age of 85.

YALE DEKE FLORIDA’S GOVERNOR