Chase, Mary (1907-1981), an American dramatist, is known for a single play, the comedy-fantasy Harvey (1944). The play won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for drama and became one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. The title character is a man-sized invisible rabbit who can be seen by only one character, Elwood P. Dowd, a charming alcoholic.
Mary Coyle was born on Feb. 25, 1907, in Denver, Colorado. She married Robert Lamont Chase in 1928. She worked as a journalist from 1928 to 1936. Chase’s first play was Me Third (1936). She never duplicated the success of Harvey, but she did write two moderately successful Broadway shows, the fantasy Mrs. McThing (1952) and Bernardine (1952), a comedy about high-school life. Chase also wrote two children’s books, Loretta Mason Potts (1958) and The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden (1968). She died on Oct. 20, 1981.
