CORNELIA OTIS SKINNER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 03/18/1963 - HFSID 65452

CORNELIA OTIS SKINNER
Cornelia Otis Skinner types a letter of regret about not being able to write a piece for the Dramatists Bulletin.
Typed Letter Signed: "Cornelia Otis Skinner", 1p, 8½x11. New York, N.Y., 1963 March 18. On her personal letterhead to Mr. Phillip Dunning, New York, N.Y. Begins: "Dear Mr. Dunning". In full: "Thank you for your note and for wanting me to write you something for the Dramatists Bulletin. At the present time I just can't possibly do it. I'm in the midst of finishing up a tour of monologue engagements, trying to meet a deadline on a magazine piece, about to depart for California in order to become a grandmother for the first tine and after that leave for Greece to be gone until the end of July. I write with such agony and anguish that it takes me hours -- even weeks! to accomplish a single paragraph, and at the moment I just couldn't try to dash anything off. Actually I'm very proud of being a member of the Dramatists Guild but I feel that I'm there under false pretenses. Except for my own monologues I have never written a play. I do wish you all success. And maybe sometime in the future I can write something for you. Do forgive me. Sincerely yours," The daughter of distinguished actor Cornelius Skinner, Cornelia (1901-1979) was a gifted stage and screen character actress and writer. She began her career with her father on Broadway in 1921's Blood and Sand and appeared in five more shows until embarking in 1926 on a three-year U.S. tour of a one-woman show she produced. In addition to writing satirical and witty verse, Cornelia was the author of eight plays, including The Pleasure of His Company (1958, with Samuel Taylor). She also wrote essays, but is perhaps best known for Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, a description of a European vacation she took with Emily Kimbrough. Both works were made into feature films (Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, 1944; The Pleasure of His Company, 1961) in which Cornelia appeared. Her film credits also include Kismet (1930), Stage Door Canteen (1943), The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) and The Swimmer (1968). Irregular left edge from being removed from book. Fold creases not at signature. Staple holes at upper left corner. Otherwise, fine condition.