Background
George was born Grace Doughtery on December 25, 1879 in New York City, the daughter of George Doughtery and Ellen Kinney.
(A small-town publisher gets a newsman out of jail, and he...)
A small-town publisher gets a newsman out of jail, and he joins her crusade against corruption.
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theater manager translator actress adapter
George was born Grace Doughtery on December 25, 1879 in New York City, the daughter of George Doughtery and Ellen Kinney.
George attended the Convent of Notre Dame in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which she later called a training school for the stage.
Grace changed her name in 1892 for professional reasons, taking the name George because it was her father's first name. In 1894, George made her debut in The New Boy, a farce. She next spent several years with road companies, making her first important New York appearance as Juliette in The Turtle (September 3, 1898). William Brady had been a sports promoter and manager of the prizefighter James J. Corbett. George appeared as Adelle in The Countess Chiffon in 1900. In the same year she played the title role in Mlle. Fifi and Honoria in Her Majesty, the Girl Queen of Nordenmark. She appeared in Pretty Peggy in 1903. Her greatest success came in 1907, when she played Cyprienne in Victorien Sardou's DivorÏons. It opened in New York in April, and in London in June, with Frank Worthing playing opposite her. George had another fine role as Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal (1909). In 1911 she opened the Playhouse, built by her husband, as Kitty Constable in Sauce for the Goose. In the same year she played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at Detroit. George presented a repertory season (1915-1916) at the Playhouse, serving as manager as well as acting. Guthrie McClintic was her stage manager. She had the title role in George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara - the first time the play was performed in the United States (1915). It had been very difficult to get production rights from Shaw. George also starred as Lady Cicely Waynflete in Shaw's Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1916). George was also a translator. The Nest (1922) was her adaptation of Les noces d'argent, by Paul Geraldy. She starred as Gerry (she often appeared in plays she adapted) in She Had to Know, adapted from Geraldy's Si je voulais. McClintic observed that even when doing a revival, George rehearsed as if it were a new play. Brady often came to rehearsals (and gave his suggestions in a loud voice). George always acknowledged how much the "dean of American theatrical producers" had helped her career, but she also helped his. Casting was her great strength. She recommended Helen Hayes for the part of Maggie in What Every Woman Knows (1926), a play Brady had purchased for his wife. Much earlier, she had "discovered" Douglas Fairbanks. George showed her skill as a director in The First Mrs. Fraser (1929), which ran for 352 performances. Some considered it her finest performance as an actress. George starred with Alice Brady, her stepdaughter, in Mademoiselle (1932) and as Mary Herries in Kind Lady (1935). She also played Linda Lessing in Matrimony Pfd. (1936), a play she and James Forbes adapted from the French. She appeared as Nell Carter in Spring Again (1941). Her only movie, Johnny Come Lately (1943), costarred James Cagney. In 1949, George played Mother Hildebrand in The Velvet Glove. Appearing with her were Walter Hampden and her granddaughter, Barbara Brady. Her last appearance was in The Constant Wife (1951), staged by McClintic, in which she starred with Katharine Cornell. She died in New York City.
(A small-town publisher gets a newsman out of jail, and he...)
(The author's life with Katherine Cornell)
George was small and fragile, with blond hair and blue eyes.
George married the producer William Aloysius Brady on January 8, 1899; they had one son, who also became a producer.