Howard, Sidney (1891-1939), was a playwright who helped bring social drama to maturity in the United States. He was a master of play construction and characterization. His works show tolerance, a zest for life, and the need for freedom through responsibility.
Howard won fame for They Knew What They Wanted (1924), a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of how an elderly husband and his young wife come to terms with life. His play The Silver Cord (1926) is a Freudian drama about a mother’s excessive love for her son. Alien Corn (1933) is the story of an artist in a hostile community. Yellow Jack (1934) describes the battle against yellow fever. Dodsworth (1934) is based on Sinclair Lewis’s satiric novel of American business. Howard wrote several film scripts, winning an Academy Award for his screenplay for Gone with the Wind (1939). He was born on June 26, 1891, in Oakland, California. He died on Aug. 23, 1939.
