Biography of Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was born August 22nd 1893 under the star constellation Leo and the Chinese zodiac of the snake. These two horoscopes, which both represent intelligence, wisdom, and to be the center of attention, are what helped give Dorothy her motivation and rise to fame. She was born in New Jersey to Jacob Henry and Eliza Annie Rothschild. In 1898 however, when Dorothy was only one month shy from turning 5 years old, her mother died leaving her with her father and a new step mother shortly thereafter. This trauma led to an unhappy child full of fighting and resentment for both her father and step mother whom she refused to see as. Her step mother passed away in 1903 when she was only 9 years old and in 1913 her father passed away causing an end to her formal education and forcing her to make a living playing piano at a dancing school.

It was during this time that Dorothy honed her skills as a writer, a poet, and as a critic. In 1914 she sold her first poem to Vanity Fair magazine which landed her a job at Vogue. Two years later she landed a job with Vanity Fair as a staff writer. Her career started to take off when she began writing theater criticism for Vanity Fair in 1918 but was let go in 1920 after her criticism began offending powerful producers too often even though her critique had proven popular. Over the next 15 years however, her career would begin to really spark as she published over 300 poems and countless free versus.

After a marriage that ended in divorce due to repetitive affairs, she moved to Hollywood where she began work with Paramount Pictures as screenwriter working on over 15 films. In 1937 Dorothy wrote the film “A star is born,” which won her an academy award nomination for best screenplay and another nomination for an Oscar in 1947 for “Smash up, the story of a woman.” Dorothy also became well involved with politics often advocating for civil rights and civil liberties and even helped start the ‘Hollywood Anti Nazi League’ which grew to 4,000 strong during World War 2.

Dorothy Parker’s writing career slowly ceased than came to an end when she passed away June 7th 1963 at 73 years old. However, she left her home in donation to the Dr. Martin Luther King foundation which later was adopted by the NAACP. Her life was that of humorous amusement in a time during WW 1, WW 2, and the great depression. She set the example as well as the bar high for what writers all over should achieve and what they are capable of achieving.

Sources:

“Dorothy Parker”. Poem Hunter


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