Dorothy Clarke Wilson


Dorothy Clarke Wilson was an American writer, perhaps best known for her novel Prince of Egypt, which was a primary source for the Cecil B. DeMille film, The Ten Commandments.

Early life

Dorothy Wright Clarke was born on May 9, 1904, in Gardiner, Maine, to Lewis Herbert Clarke, a Baptist minister, and his wife Flora Eva Clarke. She attended Cony High School in Augusta, graduating at seventeen as valedictorian of her class. In 1925 she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Bates College in Lewiston, and on August 31 of that year married fellow Bates student Elwin Leander Wilson. Elwin went on to study at Princeton Theological Seminary and the Boston University School of Theology. Upon completion of his studies, he and Dorothy returned to Maine, settling in Westbrook.

Career

Clarke's first play that she sold was written for a church. Her best known book was Prince of Egypt, which won the Westminster prize for the best religious book the year it was published and was also one of the sources for the film The Ten Commandments . Clarke was not a fan of the movie and used the term 'flimflammery' to describe the scene in which Moses parted the Red Sea. Wilson is also well known for her biographies about women such as Dorothea Dix and Elizabeth Blackwell as well as Dolley Madison and Martha Washington.
The Wilson Center at the University of Maine was named in Dorothy and Elwin's honor. Dorothy Wilson received numerous awards through her lifetime before she died in 2003.

Personal life

Wilson and her husband adopted two children: a daughter, Joan, and a son, Harold. They were married until Elwin's death on March 31, 1992. Dorothy Clarke Wilson herself died on March 26, 2003, in Orono, Maine, at the age of 98.

Selected works

In addition to her many plays, essays, and lectures, Wilson's work includes: