The Cold Wind and the Warm

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Samuel Nathaniel Behrman took a roundabout road to writing more than two dozen hit comedies for the theater. Coming from an Orthodox family, Behrman had his love of theater sparked at age eleven, when he saw the play Devil’s Island. He tried his hand at vaudeville but ended up studying literature, graduating with a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Columbia University. His career took off when the Theatre Guild produced his play The Second Man in 1927, and a string of successful works for the stage followed, often more serious in tone, in the 1930s. In addition to his theater pieces, Behrman wrote screenplays ranging from lighthearted comedies to romances to tragedies.