George Jean Nathan


George Jean Nathan was an American drama critic and magazine editor. He worked closely with H. L. Mencken, bringing the literary magazine The Smart Set to prominence as an editor, and co-founding and editing The American Mercury and The American Spectator.

Early life

Nathan was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of Ella and Charles Naret Nathan. He graduated from Cornell University in 1904. There, he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society and an editor of the Cornell Daily Sun. There is some evidence that Nathan was Jewish and sought to conceal it.

Relationships and marriage

Though he published a paean to bachelorhood, Nathan had a reputation as a ladies' man and was not averse to dating women working in the theater. The character of Addison De Witt, the waspish theater critic who squires a starlet in the 1950 film All About Eve was based on Nathan. He had a romantic relationship with actress Lillian Gish, beginning in the late 1920s and lasting almost a decade. Gish repeatedly refused his proposals of marriage.
Nathan eventually married considerably younger stage actress, Julie Haydon, in 1955.

Death

Nathan died in New York City in 1958, aged 76.

Legacy

The George Jean Nathan Award, an honor in dramatic criticism, is named after him. Nathan is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.