Matthew J. Bruccoli collection of Donald Ogden Stewart

Donald Ogden Stewart was an American playwright, humorist, screenwriter, and political activist. He became a writer after meeting F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota. Stewart moved to New York and joined the Round Table then began writing stories that were published in various magazines. He spent time in Europe where his circle of friends included F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and John Dos Passos. After returning to the U.S. from Europe, Stewart met and married Beatrice Ames and eventually settled down with her in California where he focused his writing on plays and movie scripts. Stewart won an Academy Award for writing the screenplay for The Philadelphia Story, which was based on Philip Barry’s play of the same name. After divorcing Beatrice, Stewart met and married Ella Winter. Stewart was blacklisted in Hollywood for his political activities and in 1951 he and his family moved to London. In London he mainly wrote plays, though he still penned the occasional screenplay under a pseudonym. Stewart died August 2, 1980 after suffering a heart attack. Ella Winter passed away less than forty-eight hours later. The Donald Ogden Stewart and Ella Winter papers are housed at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.