Mary Caswell Orr (December 21, 1910 – September 22, 2006) was an
American actress and
short story author whose "
The Wisdom of Eve," written in 1946, was the basis of the
Academy Award-winning film
All About Eve.
[NY Times obituary for Mary Orr] In private life, the
Brooklyn-born Orr used her married name,
Mary Orr Denham.
In 1964, she and her husband,
director-
playwright Reginald Denham, adapted
The Wisdom of Eve into a play (of the same name), which was produced
off-Broadway in 1979. In 1970, a hit Broadway musical,
Applause, was based on
All About Eve and gave a credit to Mary Orr for the original story. The musical, which starred
Lauren Bacall and
Penny Fuller, was broadcast on
CBS in 1973.
[Notes for All About Eve on TCM]
In addition to
Applause, Mary Orr and Reginald Denham had four plays that opened on Broadway. Their first,
Wallflower ran for 192 performances in 1944.
.
Round Trip was presented in 1945, while
Dark Hammock started its performances in 1946. The fourth,
Be Your Age, made its Broadway appearances in 1953.
[WOSU presents Ohiana Authors: Mary Orr]. Alone or with her husband, Orr wrote five books and forty television scripts.
