Jules Eckert Goodman


Jules Eckert Goodman was an American playwright and author. He was best known for his plays Treasure Island, The Man Who Came Back, The Silent Voice, Chains, and a series of plays featuring Potash and Permutter written with Montague Glass.

Life and career

Jules Eckert Goodman was born on November 2, 1876, in Gervais, Oregon. He is one of the six children born to S. Newman and Jenette Goodman. His family was Jewish, and his mother was a native of San Francisco, California. Prior to settling in Gervais and starting a family, Jeanette had resided in Portland's Multnomah Hotel.
Goodman received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1899 and a master's degree from Columbia University in 1901. He was managing editor for four years of Current Literature and also wrote for Outing and the Dramatic Mirror. He had his first success on Broadway with the 1910's Mother.
The successful The Silent Voice was adapted to film four times; first in 1915, then again in 1922 under the title The Man Who Played God. A talking-movie version also called The Man Who Played God appeared in 1932, starring George Arliss and Bette Davis, a role she credited as her big "break" in Hollywood. Lastly, it appeared as a campy 1955 star vehicle for Liberace called Sincerely Yours.
Goodman had tremendous success with his 1915 play Treasure Island; a work which brought him both "fame and fortune". Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel of the same name, the play was staged on Broadway at the Punch and Judy Theatre. It was a hit play of the 1915-1916 Broadway season, and later became a staple of community theatre in the United States and was also utilized by high school and middle school drama programs. Notable professional revivals included productions at the New York Hippodrome in 1938, and a 1950-1951 production at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London.
Among other film adaptions of Goodman's work, The Man Who Came Back appeared in 1931. Goodman's reported last play Many Mansions was written with his son Eckert Goodman.
Goodman died of pneumonia in Peekskill, New York, where he had resided for forty years, on July 10, 1962. His wife died in 1959, and he was survived by one son, and two daughters, Helen Goodman and Anna Freedgood.

Selected bibliography

Plays

The Man Who Stood Still The Right to Live The Test Mother The Point of View The Silent Voice The Trap Just Outside the Door Treasure Island The Man Who Came Back Object - Matrimony )Business Before Pleasure Why Worry? His Honor: Abe Potash Pietro The Law Breaker Partners Again Chains Simon Called Peter Potash and Permutter, Detectives The Great Romancer Many Mansions
  • ''George Worthing, American''

Novels

  • ''Mother''