Horace Liveright
Horace Brisbin Liveright (pronounced "LIVE-right," anglicized by Horace's father from the German Liebrecht;
Life and career
Liveright was born into a Jewish family in 1884, in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania. He initially followed the career of a bond salesman. He married Lucille Elsas, the daughter of Herman Elsas the owner of a paper company merged into International Paper of which he was subsequently an officer and director. The marriage took place in April 1911, and Liveright used his father-in-law's financial backing to embark on a publishing career.[3]
The Liverights had two children, Herman and Lucy. Lucille divorced Liveright on grounds of misconduct in 1928, alleging "misconduct with an actress in an inn near Croton-on-Hudson."[4]
In December 1931 he married the actress Elise Bartlett (who had appeared in Show Boat and had divorced actor Joseph Schildkraut in 1930); she filed for divorce four months later.[5]
Publishing career
In 1917 Liveright founded the
Liveright believed that books could be marketed similarly to other media and was among the first to aggressively sell novels.
Despite their successes, Liveright and Boni's relationship broke down and the pair chose to part ways. It is reported that they flipped a coin to decide who would buy the other out, and Liveright gained control. In 1923, Liveright's alcoholism started to take its toll. Throwing frequent, lavish parties, he would over-indulge many nights per week.[7]
Stage production
Liveright started his stage production career in 1924. His initial choices of plays were not successful, and he had to use an increasing amount of money from his publishing company. His faltering financial status meant that he had to sell the Modern Library to then-vice-president Bennett Cerf in 1925.[6] Liveright started to put money from the publishing company into Broadway productions but soon found that the erratic success of the Boni & Liveright publishers was not a secure income; the Modern Library had been the backbone of his finances. In 1928 he lost control of Boni & Liveright and was pushed out entirely by 1930.[7]
Liveright achieved success in theatre. His production of
Death
Liveright died of pneumonia on September 24, 1933, aged forty-nine. Years of alcoholism and his business failures likely contributed to his death. Six people were said to have attended his funeral.
Portrayal and biography
- Ben Hecht wrote and directed the film Academy Award winner, it marked the on-screen debut for Noël Coward, who played the central character.[7]
- Tom Dardis wrote a biography of Liveright, called Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright (1995) (ISBN 0679406751).
References
- ^ "BOOK REVIEW: 'Supreme City': Wonderfully Readable Account of Contributions Manhattan Made to U.S. Architecture, Engineering, Culture". 25 August 2014.
- ^ Dardis, Tom. Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright. Random House, 1995.
- ^ a b c d Teachout, Terry. "Huckster and Publisher", The New York Times, 16 July 1995, Accessed 14 June 2007
- ^ "To Open Liveright Suit", The New York Times, May 11, 1928. p. 20
- ^ "Horace Liveright Dies of Pneumonia", New York Times, September 25, 1933. p. 15
- ^ a b Modern Library. "About Modern Library". Accessed 14 June 2007.
- ^ a b c d Columbia University Libraries. 2006. "Notable New Yorkers: Bennett Cerf" (interview transcript, session 2, page 98). Accessed 14 June 2007.
- ^
External links
- Works by Horace Brisbin Liveright at Faded Page (Canada)
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