born June 20, 1905, New Orleans, La., U.S.
died June 30, 1984, Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
U.S. playwright.
After working as a book reviewer, press agent, and play reader, she began writing plays in the 1930s. Her first major success, The Children's Hour (1934), concerned two schoolteachers falsely accused of lesbianism. She examined family infighting in her hit The Little Foxes (1939) and political injustice in Watch on the Rhine (1941). All were made into successful films. Called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, she refused to testify. She wrote several memoirs and edited the works of her longtime companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett .