Norman Lee Swartout


Norman Lee Swartout, Sr. was an American playwright. He was the editor and manager of the play department for Longman, Green & Co. He became the director of the Summit Playhouse in 1918.

Biography

He was born in Auburn, New York, on April 17, 1879. He attended the University of Rochester where he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and graduated around 1901. He made his stage debut Don Caesar's Return with James Keteltas Hackett at Wallack's Theatre in Manhattan. He wrote the farcical play The Arrival of Kitty in 1906.
He married Helen Louise Briggs around 1912. They had two children: Norman Lee Swartout, Jr. who married Hildegarde Spindler; and Barbara Swartout.
He became the director of the Summit Playhouse in 1918.
He died on October 30, 1930, in Summit, New Jersey, he was 51 years old.

Plays