Maugham, W. Somerset

(1874-1965)

   Born William Somerset Maugham in Paris, this distinguished British novelist also wrote several plays. Jack Straw (1908), the first of his sophisticated comedies produced in New York, starred John Drew. Charles Frohman's productions of Maugham's relatively slight works—including Lady Frederick (1908), Mrs. Dot (1910), and Smith (1910)—were precursors to Maugham's finest high comedies: Our Betters (1917), Too Many Husbands (1919), The Circle (1921), and The Constant Wife (1926), all of which were revived. Moving from comedy to drama, Maugham had a major hit with The Letter (1927). One of his short stories was adapted as Rain (1922) by John B. Colton and Clemence Randolph to become one of the most successful plays of the era.