Jean Kerr

Irish-American author and playwright

Jean Kerr

Kerr c. 1970s

Born| Bridget Jean Collins
(1922-07-10)July 10, 1922[1]
Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died| January 20, 2003(2003-01-20) (aged 80)
White Plains, New York, U.S.
Occupation| Author
Playwright
Notable awards| Tony Award (1961, for King of Hearts)
Spouse|

Walter Kerr

(m. 1943; died 1996)​

Jean Kerr (born Bridget Jean Collins, July 10, 1922[2] - January 20, 2003)[a] was an American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who authored the 1957 bestseller Please Don't Eat the Daisies[b] and the plays King of Hearts in 1954 and Mary, Mary in 1961.

## Early life and education[edit]

Kerr was born on July 10, 1922,[4] in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrant parents Tom and Kitty Collins,[5] and grew up on Electric Street in Scranton.[6][7] She attended Marywood Seminary, the topic of her humorous short story "When I was Queen of the May." She received a bachelor's degree from Marywood College in Scranton and attended The Catholic University of America, where she received her master's degree in 1945.[2]

A nun at Marywood persuaded her to drop her first name, because "only Irish washerwomen are named Biddie".[8]

## Career[edit]

> I have two trifling ambitions in the theater: to make a lot of people laugh and to make a lot of money.[9]

Kerr in Theatre Arts Magazine

The Kerrs worked together on several projects, including a 1946 adaptation of the novel, The Song of Bernadette.[10] They contributed lyrics and sketches to the musical Touch and Go, and co-authored Goldilocks (1958), a Broadway musical comedy about the early days of silent film that ran from October 11, 1958 to February 28, 1959, and won two Tony Awards, for Best Actress in a Featured Role (Pat Stanley) and Best Actor in a Featured Role (Russell Nype).[11][2]

The Kerrs also collaborated on the Tony Award-winning King of Hearts (1954), which ran for 279 performances; he directed the play that she co-wrote with Eleanor Brooke.[2] King of Hearts was adapted for the screen in 1956 under the title That Certain Feeling. The film starred Bob Hope.

Jean Kerr wrote Jenny Kissed Me, which was produced in December 1948. She wrote the hit comedy Mary, Mary, which ran on Broadway from 1961 through 1964, for more than 1500 performances, and was brought to the screen under the same title in a 1963 film, starring Debbie Reynolds and Barry Nelson, which was a big hit.[12][2]

She wrote sketches for John Murray Anderson's Almanac.[2] Her book Please Don't Eat the Daisies was a big success, and it was made into a feature film in 1960.[13] NBC also produced a 58-episode situation comedy starring Pat Crowley from 1965 to 1967, based on the book[2][14] She then wrote The Snake Has All the Lines in 1960.[2]

Kerr's play Finishing Touches ran from February to July 1973. Her other works include the plays Poor Richard (1964) and Lunch Hour (1980). She also wrote the books Penny Candy (1970) and How I Got to Be Perfect (1978). Her last play, Lunch Hour, was staged in 1980, and featured Sam Waterson and Gilda Radner.[10] Kerr was skeptical of casting Radner in the play, but Mike Nichols persuaded her to watch Gilda Live, and Kerr was won over by her performance in the film, and she was offered the part.[15]

Kerr was known to author her manuscripts and articles in longhand, and more than often, they were written in the family car,[8] and her husband then typed them.[9] American author Ernest K. Gann wrote in his book Twilight for the Gods, that "anyone who reads it [Please Don't Eat the Daisies], will consider it the most reasonable thing in the world that she prefers to do her writing seated in an automobile and parked two blocks away from her Larchmont, New York, home".[16]

American cartoonist Dick Hodgins Jr. drew a caricature of Kerr in 1963, which was featured in several newspapers at the time.[17]

## Personal life[edit]

Kerr was married to New York drama critic Walter Kerr; they were married on August 16, 1943.[6] The marriage lasted until his death in 1996.[2] The couple had six children; Christopher, twins Colin and John, Gilbert, Gregory, and Kitty.[12][9]

The Kerrs bought a house in New Rochelle, New York, and later settled in Larchmont, New York in 1955.[18] Their house in Larchmont was frequently characterized in her writings, and it featured a two-story fireplace, turrets, a medieval courtyard, and a 32 bell carillon which played the duet from the opera Carmen at noon everyday.[9][c] The house was previously owned by Charles King, who test drove Henry Ford's first car.[8]

She died of pneumonia in White Plains, New York in 2003.[2]

## Books[edit]

* Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1957)[10]
* The Snake Has All the Lines (1960)[10]
* Penny Candy (1970)[10]
* How I Got to Be Perfect (1979)[10]

## Plays[edit]

* The Song of Bernadette (1946)[10]
* Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1946)[20]
* Jenny Kissed Me (1948)[10]
* Touch-and-Go (1949)[10]
* John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953)
* King of Hearts (1954)[10]
* Goldilocks: A Musical (1958)[10]
* Mary, Mary (1961)[12]
* Poor Richard (1964)[10]
* Finishing Touches (1973)[10]
* Lunch Hour (1980)[10]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Time Magazine, 1 February 17, 2003 Page 8
2. ^ The book has sold millions of copies since its original publication In 1957.[3]
3. ^ Kerr with husband and 3 of their 4 sons (top to bottom) Christopher, 12, Johnny, 8, & Gilbert, 5, posing behind ornate door of their home which was once the door of St. Gabriel's Church. Featured in Life, February 1958. Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt.[19]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Staff Report (November 28, 2017). "Actors Circle to present 'Mary, Mary' by Scranton Native Jean Kerr". Abington Journal. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. "Kerr was born in Scranton on July 10, 1922."
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Berkvist, Robert (January 7, 2003). "Jean Kerr, Playwright and Author, Dies at 80". The New York Times.
3. ^ Greinacher, Udo (2006). "Suburban Superiority: Hollywood's Depiction of the Central City" (PDF). Getting Real: Design Ethos Now. Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. p. 293\. ISBN 9780935502596.
4. ^ Wilson, Scott (September 5, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 403\. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4.
5. ^ Vallance, Tom (January 10, 2003). "Obituary: Jean Kerr ; Author of 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies'". The Independent. p. 18\. ProQuest 312166639. "Born Bridget Jean Collins to Irish immigrant parents in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1922."
6. ^ a b Times-Tribune (August 17, 1943). "Society: Marriage of Collins/Kerr". The Times-Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. p. 14.
7. ^ "Kerr, Jean". ProQuest Biographies. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 2008. ProQuest 2137914459. "Bridget Jean Collins was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on 10 July 1922, the eldest child of Irish immigrants Thomas Collins, Jr, a construction engineer, and homemaker Katherine ('Kitty') Collins, a second cousin of playwright Eugene O'Neill."
8. ^ a b c Mulligan, Hugh A. (April 21, 1963). "For Playwright Jean Kerr: Comedy Begins at Home". The Shreveport Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. Associated Press.
9. ^ a b c d Oliver, Myrna (January 8, 2003). "Jean Kerr, 79; Turned Suburban Life Into Broadway Comedies". Los Angeles Times. p. B12.
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Crosland, Phillip F. (September 21, 1980). "Jean Kerr: Metamorphis of an actress into a successful playwright". Fort Myers News-Press. Associated Press. p. 7E.
11. ^ "Winners". Tony Awards. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
12. ^ a b c Jones, Kenneth (January 7, 2003). "Jean Kerr, Playwright Who Scored Big With Mary, Mary, Dead at 80". Playbill.
13. ^ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1960). "Trailer for Please Don't Eat The Daisies" - via Internet Archive.
14. ^ Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Television (1965). "Please Don't Eat the Daisies - Season 1 Intro" - via Internet Archive.
15. ^ Stone, Elizabeth (November 16, 1980). "Gilda Takes Another Big Step". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 37.
16. ^ Gann, Ernest Kellogg (1958). "Please Don't Eat the Daisies". Twilight for the Gods. New York: Doubleday. p. 480.
17. ^ Mulligan, Hugh A. (April 21, 1963). "Jean Kerr: Who Mostly Copes in Her Delightful, Witty, Sophisticated, But Uncomplicated Way". Wisconsin State Journal.
18. ^ Silberstein, Judy; Eisenberg, Paula (March 18, 2003). ""Please Don't Eat the Daisies" House on the Market: An Intimate Tour". Larchmont Gazette. Lynxcom New Media. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
19. ^ Alfred Eisenstaedt (1958). "Jean Kerr's Family". Life Magazine.
20. ^ Skinner, Cornelia Otis; Kimbrough, Emily (1946). Our Hearts were Young and Gay. dramatized by Jean Kerr. Woodstock, Illinois: The Dramatic Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87129-247-5. Retrieved January 10, 2019.

## Further reading[edit]

* "The Theater: New Play in Manhattan". Time Magazine. April 12, 1954. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011.
* "Children Run Longer Than Plays". Time Magazine. April 14, 1961. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007.
* Cooper, Douglas P.; O'Brien, George (August 31, 1973). "Interview with Jean Kerr". WNYC. The Douglas P. Cooper Distinguished Contemporaries Collection. (Audio recording)

## External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Jean Kerr.

* Jean Kerr at IMDb
* Walter and Jean Kerr Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
* Life Magazine Images: Walter & Jean Kerr
* "Tour of house in Larchmont". Archived from the original on July 1, 2003.
* Photo slideshow of house in Larchmont \- watch on YouTube

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*[c.]: circa
*[m.]: married