George Jean Nathan
George Jean Nathan (February 14, 1882 – April 8, 1958) 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.
George Jean Nathan
February 14, 1882
April 8, 1958 (aged 76)
- Drama critic
- magazine editor
Early life and education[edit]
Nathan was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on February 14, 1882, the son of Ella (Nirdlinger) and Charles Naret Nathan.[1] 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 (successfully) to conceal it.[2]
Relationships and marriage[edit]
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 (played by a then-unknown Marilyn Monroe) in the 1950 film All About Eve was based on Nathan.[3] 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.[4]
Nathan eventually married a considerably younger stage actress, Julie Haydon, in 1955.
Death[edit]
Nathan died in New York City in 1958, aged 76.
