Bridie, James (1888-1951), was the pen name of Osborne Henry Mavor, a distinguished Scottish playwright. Bridie’s major works explore matters of ethics, morality, and religion and the supernatural. The amusing situations in his comedies conceal shrewd common sense and irony. He also wrote domestic dramas and experimental plays.
Bridie’s first play was Sunlight Sonata (1928), but he won fame with The Anatomist (1930), a witty examination of medical ethics. His other major works include Tobias and the Angel (1930), Jonah and the Whale (1932), A Sleeping Clergyman (1933), Marriage is No Joke (1934), Susannah and the Elders (1937), the autobiographical One Way of Living (1939), Mr. Bolfry (1943), Dr. Angelus (1947), and The Queen’s Comedy (1950).
Bridie was born on Jan. 3, 1888, in Glasgow, Scotland. He qualified as a doctor at the University of Glasgow. He combined a medical career with his career in the theater, writing more than 40 plays. He was the cofounder in 1943 of the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre. In 1950, he founded the College of Drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. Bridie died on Jan. 29, 1951.
