DEATH OF A DRAMATIST. MR. CLYDE FITCH.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 59, 7 September 1909, Page 7

DEATH OF A DRAMATIST. MR. CLYDE FITCH.

Bjf Telegraph.— Preso Association.— Copyright. ' NEW YORK, 6th Sept. The death has occurred, from appendicitis, of Mr. CJyde Fitch, dramatist and author. Of Mr. Clyde Fitch, who had only lately completed his forty-fourth year, it has been said that the stage lost a good actor but found a good playwright, because he would certainly have succeeded had he taken up acting for a living. Originally intended for the profession of electrical engineering, Mr. Fitch appears to have concentrated his interest os writing from the first. Be.fore he had secured his degree at Amherst University, a fine old institution in Massachusetts, he had begun to write for the magazines, and within a year of his leaving college . the first volume of his short stories and poems was published. His first insight into theatrical life came when he was engaged by the famous American actor, the late Richard Mansfield, to act as his private secretary. Iv this capacity Mr. Fitch served for two years, during which time his first play was written, "Beau Brummel," which was promptly accepted and produced by Mr. Mansfield. The author did not reap the immediate reward of his first success as a playwright. Although his beginning is of a comparatively recent time, he appeared originally when American playwrights were not popular or encouraged in America, and hib efforts were looked upon askance, particularly by those managers whose interest he most wished for. Steadily, however, he stuck to his work, and each year found him progressing nearer to recognition. At first he had to satisfy himself with translations and adaptations from the French, but one day he had an original play produced that found favour in the eyes of critics and public. In recent years Mr. Fitch was credited with being easily the wealthiest playwright in the world, with an income of over £1000 per week. When success came to him, it came by leaps and bounds, 1 and he has nearly two hundred plays to his credit. Mr. Fitch, like Sir- Arthur Pinero, always insisted upon producing and stage-nwi-aging his plays. To-day the names of nearly a dozen men and women appear prominently as dramatists m America, , but ten years ago, when Mr. Clyde Fitch first began to make his mark, he was without a . rival. Apparently he has been more successful with comedy work than ' with the heavier drama. Among his many successful plays are "Barbara Freitchie," "The Moth and the Flame," "The Last of the Dandies," "Captain Jinks, of the Horse Marines," "The House of Mirth," "The Truth," etc.

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