Akins, Zoe (1886-1958), was an American playwright and screenwriter. She won the 1935 Pulitzer Prize for drama for The Old Maid (1935), her adaptation of a short novel by Edith Wharton. The play tells about a woman who allows her illegitimate daughter to be raised by her cousin. The daughter grows up believing that her real mother is her aunt and a typical “old maid.”
Akins was born in Humansville, Missouri, on Oct. 30, 1886. She began her writing career as a poet and journalist before achieving her first success on the stage, the drama Déclassée (1919). Akins gained a reputation as a skilled author of light comedies, such as Daddy’s Gone a-Hunting (1921), A Royal Fandango (1923), and The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930). In the late 1920’s, Akins settled in Hollywood as a screenwriter. During the next 10 years, several films were made from her original stories or screenplays, such as Morning Glory (1933) and Camille (1937). Her poetry was collected in Interpretations: A Book of First Poems (1912). She also wrote the novels Cake Upon the Waters (1919) and Forever Young (1941). She died on Oct. 29, 1958.
