HOWARD, BRONSON

born Oct. 7, 1842, Detroit, Mich., U.S. died Aug. 4, 1908, Avon, N.J. in full Bronson Crocker Howard American journalist, author of successful comedies and dramas about life in the United States and founder-president of the first society for playwrights in the United States. A newspaper writer in Detroit and New York, Howard had his first success with Saratoga, produced in 1870 by Augustin Daly at a time when dramas of American life written by Americans were practically nonexistent; its success encouraged other native playwrights. The Henrietta (1887), a satire on business, and Shenandoah (1889), which established Charles Frohman as a producer and made a fortune for both producer and author, were also great successes. Howard's other plays include The Banker's Daughter (1878), first produced in 1873 as Lillian's Last Love; Wives (1879); Young Mrs. Winthrop (1882); and One of Our Girls (1885). He described his craft in Autobiography of a Play (1914).