Mary Chase (1) (1906–1981)

Mary Coyle Chase, née Mary Agnes McDonough Coyle, was born in Denver, Colorado, where she lived her entire life. The family was poor but rich in imagination and spent much time telling Irish folk tales and singing together. Mary was an avid reader who graduated from high school at age 15. She then spent two years studying the classics at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Denver but left without getting a degree. In 1924, she began working as a reporter for the Denver Times and Rocky Mountain News. During this time, she rode around Denver at breakneck speed from story to story in a Model T Ford with photographer Harry Rhoads. She married fellow reporter Robert Lamont Chase, with whom she had three children. She left the News in 1931 to raise her children and worked as a freelancer for the United Press and the International News Service. She also began to write plays. Her first play, Me Third, was produced in Denver in 1936 by the Federal Theatre Project. The play went to Broadway in 1937, renamed Now You've Done It, and closed after three weeks. In 1938, she wrote Chi House, which was adapted into a Hollywood film called Sorority House (1939). In the early 1940s, Chase held a series of government, volunteer, and union jobs, but kept writing. In 1944, her play Harvey opened on Broadway to enthusiastic reviews and ran until 1949. It won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was adapted into a 1950 film. Harvey also became a staple of amateur and school theater groups across the USA. Her 1952 play Bernadine was adapted into a Hollywood musical in 1957. During her career, Chase wrote a total of 14 plays as well as two children's novels.