Robert E. Sherwood

Robert E. Sherwood (1896-1955) was born in New Rochelle, New York and educated at Harvard University. He was an editor (1919-28) for Vanity Fair and Life magazines before establishing himself as a playwright. His plays include WATERLOO BRIDGE (1929), REUNION IN VIENNA (1931), THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1935), IDIOT'S DELIGHT (1936; Pulitzer Prize, 1936), ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (1938; Pulitzer Prize, 1939), THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT (1940; Pulitzer Prize, 1941) and the musical MISS LIBERTY (music by Irving Berlin). During World War II, Sherwood served as overseas director of the Office of War Information and was a speech writer for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The film The Best Years of Our Lives, for which he wrote the screenplay, won the Academy Award in 1946. Among his other works is the biographical study Roosevelt and Hopkins (1948; Pulitzer Prize, 1949).