Irvin S. Cobb

Irvin S. Cobb

Infobox Writer
name = Irvin S. Cobb



birthdate = birth date|1876|6|23
birthplace = Paducah, Kentucky
deathdate = death date and age|1944|3|11|1876|6|23
deathplace = New York City, New York
spouse = Laura Spencer Baker
(1900-1944)
children = Elisabeth Cobb (b.1902)

Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (June 23, 1876March 11, 1944) was an American author, humorist, and columnist who lived in New York and authored more than 60 books and 300 short stories. He has been described as having a round shape, bushy eyebrows, full lips, a triple chin, and always having a cigar in his mouth.cite web | author=Kelly Foster | title=Irvin S. Cobb | url=http://www.english.eku.edu/services/kylit/cobb.htm | work=KYLit| publisher=Eastern Kentucky University | date=30 September 1997 | accessdate=2008-05-13]

Biography

Cobb was the second of four children born to Kentucky natives in Paducah, Kentucky. His grandfather Reuben Saunders, M.D., is credited with discovering in 1873 that hypodermic use of morphine-atropine halted cholera. Cobb was raised in Paducah, where the events and people of his childhood became the basis for much of his later worksFact|date=June 2008.

Cobb was educated in public and private elementary schools and then entered William A. Cade's Academy intending to pursue a law career. When he was 16, his grandfather died and his father became an alcoholic, so he was forced to quit school and find work, thus beginning his writing career.

Writing career

He started in journalism on the "Paducah Daily News" at age seventeen, becoming the nation's youngest managing news editor at nineteen. He later worked at the "Louisville Evening Post" for a year and a half.

His first hand account in "Exit Laughing", details the saga of the Kentucky Governor William Goebel, who killed a man, exploited the split Democratic Party in Kentucky, and was assassinated in 1900.

Moving to New York in 1904, he was hired by the "Evening Sun", who sent him to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to cover the Russian-Japanese peace conference. His dispatches from the negotiations, focusing on the personalities involved (including President Theodore Roosevelt) were published across the country under the title "Making Peace at Portsmouth". They earned him a job offer from Joseph Pulitzer's "New York World" that made him the highest-paid staff reporter in the United States.

Cobb covered World War I for the "Saturday Evening Post", and wrote a book in 1915 about his experiences called "Paths of Glory". He wrote numerous series in periodicals and also collaborated on dramatic productions.

Hollywood

Several of Cobb's stories were made into silent films, and he wrote titles for a couple more, including the Jackie Coogan vehicle "Peck's Bad Boy" (1921). When sound came in, a few more of his stories were adapted into films, including "The Woman Accused" (1933), starring a young Cary Grant.

John Ford twice made films based on Cobb's Judge Priest stories: "Judge Priest" (1934), featuring Will Rogers in the title role, and "The Sun Shines Bright" (1953), based on the short stories "The Sun Shines Bright", "The Mob from Massac", and "The Lord Provides".

Cobb also had an acting career, appearing in 10 films between 1932 and 1938, with starring roles in such movies as "Pepper" and "Everybody's Old Man" (1936). He was host of the 6th Academy Awards in 1935. [cite web | author= | title=Biography: Irvin S. Cobb | url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167769/ | work=Internet Movie Database | date=2008 | accessdate=2008-05-14]

Personal life

He married Laura Spencer Baker of Savannah, Georgia. His daughter, Elisabeth Cobb Rogers (born 1902), was an author in her own right, author of the novel "She Was a Lady" and of "My Wayward Parent" (1945), a book about her father. Her first husband was Frank Michler Chapman, Jr., son of the ornithologist Frank Michler Chapman.

Cobb's granddaughter is "Buff" Cobb (born Patricia Chapman on October 19, 1928 in Florence, Italy). A TV personality of the early 1950s, and second wife journalist, Mike Wallace. [cite web | author= | title=Buff Cobb | url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167741 | work=Internet Movie Database | date=2008 | accessdate=2008-05-14]

When Cobb died in New York City in 1944, his body was sent to Paducah for cremation and his ashes placed under a dogwood tree. The granite boulder marking his remains is inscribed "Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb 1876-1944 Back Home".

Fiction

Cobb is best remembered for his humorous stories of Kentucky local color. These stories were first collected in the book "Old Judge Priest" (1915), whose title character was based on a prominent West Kentucky judge named William Pitman Bishop. Among his other books of humor are "Speaking of Operations" (1916) and "Red Likker" (1929).

Joel Harris wrote of these tales, "Cobb created a South peopled with honorable citizens, charming eccentrics, and loyal, subservient blacks, but at their best the Judge Priest stories are dramatic and compelling, using a wealth of precisely rendered detail to evoke a powerful mood."

Cobb also wrote short stories in a horror vein, such as "Fishhead" (1911) and "The Unbroken Chain" (1923). "Fishhead" has been cited as an inspiration for H. P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", while "The Unbroken Chain" was a model for Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls".

Bibliography

* "Funabashi" (a musical comedy, 1907)
* "Mr. Busybody" (musical comedy, 1908)
* "Back Home" (1912, produced as a comedy, 1915)
* "Cobb's Anatomy" (1912)
* "The Escape of Mr. Trimm" (1913)
* "Cobb's Bill of Fare" (1913)
* "Roughing It de luxe" (1914)
* "Europe Revised" (1914)
* "Paths of Glory" (1915)
* "Old Judge Priest" (1915, 1923)
* "Fibble, D.D." (1916)
* "Speaking of Operations" (1916)
* "Local Color" (1916)
* "Speaking of Prussians" (1917)
* "Those Times and These" (1917)
* "The Glory of the Coming" (1918)
* "The Thunders of Silence" (1918)
* "The Life of the Party" (1919)
* "From Place to Place" (1919)
* "Oh, Well, You Know How Women Are!" (1919)
* "The Abandoned Farmers" (1920)
* "A Plea for Old Cap Collier" (1921)
* "One Third Off" (1921)
* "Sundry Accounts" (1922)
* "Stickfuls" (1923)
* "A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor Away" (1923)
* "The Snake Doctor" (1923)
* "Exit Laughing" (1941)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.english.eku.edu/SERVICES/KYLIT/cobb.htm "Irvin S. Cobb"] by Kelly Walters, KYLIT
* [http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Liege/Loncin_01.htm "In Aachen and Fort Loncin"] , from "Paths of Glory", by Irvin S. Cobb; illustrated
* [http://www.irvinscobb.com "Tribute to the Life and Works of Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb"] in progress as of 07/01/2008 by Remington Guy


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Irvin S. Cobb — (1916) Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (* 23. Juni 1876 in Paducah, Kentucky; † 10. März 1944 in New York City) war ein US amerikanischer Schriftsteller, Journalist, Kolumnist und Schauspieler …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Irvin S. Cobb — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Cobb. Irvin S. Cobb Irvin S. Cobb est un écrivain, scénariste et acteur américain né le 23 juin 1876 à Paducah …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Irvin S. Cobb Bridge — Infobox Bridge bridge name=Irvin S. Cobb Bridge caption=Also known as the Brookport Bridge official name=Irvin S. Cobb Bridge carries=2 lanes of US 45 crosses=Ohio River locale=Paducah, KY and Brookport, IL maint= id= design=Truss bridge mainspan …   Wikipedia

  • Cobb (surname) — Cobb is a surname of Anglo Irish origin, and may refer to: People Amasa Cobb, American politician Andrew R. Cobb (1876 1943), Canadian architect Arnett Cobb, American jazz tenor saxophonist Artie Cobb, American poker player Britt Cobb, American… …   Wikipedia

  • Cobb (Familienname) — Cobb ist ein Familienname. Bekannte Namensträger Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cobb — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Cobb peut désigner : Patronyme Cobb est un nom de famille notamment porté par : David Cobb (né en 1963), homme politique américain ; Edmund …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cobb — /kob/, n. 1. Howell /how euhl/, 1815 68, U.S. politician: Speaker of the House 1849 51. 2. Irvin S(hrewsbury), 1876 1944, U.S. humorist and writer. 3. Ty(rus Raymond) /tuy reuhs/, ( the Georgia Peach ), 1886 1961, U.S. baseball player. * * * (as… …   Universalium

  • cobb — variant of cob * * * /kob/, n. 1. Howell /how euhl/, 1815 68, U.S. politician: Speaker of the House 1849 51. 2. Irvin S(hrewsbury), 1876 1944, U.S. humorist and writer. 3. Ty(rus Raymond) /tuy reuhs/, ( the Georgia Peach ), 1886 1961, U.S.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Cobb, Irvin S — ▪ American journalist and humorist born June 23, 1876, Paducah, Ky., U.S. died March 10, 1944, New York City  U.S. journalist and humorist best known for his colloquial handling of familiar situations with ironical, penetrating humour.       At… …   Universalium

  • Humphrey Cobb — (September 5, 1899 ndash; April 25, 1944) was a screenwriter and novelist. He is best known for writing the novel Paths of Glory , which was made into an acclaimed 1957 movie by Stanley Kubrick. Cobb was also the lead screenwriter on the 1937… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”