Profile of Robert E. Sherwood on Famous Like Me

Robert Emmet Sherwood (4 April 1896–14 November 1955) American playwright, editor, and screenwriter.

The horrors experienced on the battlefields of Europe during World War I, helped to shape this noted American writer. Born in New Rochelle, New York and educated at Harvard University, Sherwood fought with the Canadian Black Watch and was wounded. After his return to the U.S., he began working as a movie critic for such magazines as Life and Vanity Fair.

His first play, The Road to Rome in 1927 was greeted with success. The play was a comedy concerning Hannibal's botched invasion of Rome. One of the underlying themes of this work is the stupidity of war. This would be a recurrent motif in many of his dramatic works including his Idiot's Delight of 1936 which would win the first of his four Pulitzer Prizes.

In addition to his work for the stage, Sherwood also was in demand in Hollywood. He began writing for the silver screen in 1926. While some of his work is uncredited, his films include many adaptations of his plays.

With Europe in the midst of World War II, Sherwood changed his anti-war stance and supported American involvement against the Third Reich. His play of 1940, There Shall Be No Night told the story of the Russian invasion of Finland. His patriotism led him to work as a speechwriter for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He recounted this period with his book Roosevelt and Hopkins which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bancroft Prize in 1949.

He returned to playwrighting after the war and produced his memorable script for the film The Best Years of Our Lives which was directed by William Wyler. The 1946 film explores how the lives of three servicemen have been changed after they return home from war.

Sherwood died of a heart attack in New York City in 1955.

Plays

• The Road to Rome (1927) - adapted into the 1927 film The Private Life of Helen of Troy
• The Love Nest (1927)
• The Queen's Husband (1928) - adapted into the 1931 film The Royal Bed.
• Waterloo Bridge (1930) - adapted into a 1931 film.
• This is New York (1930) - adapted into the 1932 film Two Kinds of Women.
• Reunion in Vienna (1931) - adapted into a 1933 film.
• Acropolis (1933)
• The Petrified Forest (1935) - adapted into 1936 film with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis.
• Tovarich (1935) - adapted into a 1937 film.
• Idiot's Delight (1936) Pulitzer Prize for Drama - adapted into 1939 film
• Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938) Pulitzer Prize for Drama - adapted into 1940 film. See Abe Lincoln in Illinois (movie).
• There Shall Be No Night (1940) Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• The Rugged Path (1945)

Nonfiction

• Roosevelt and Hopkins (1948) Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography

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