Grace Perkins
Born
Grace Margaret Perkins

August 20, 1900
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedDecember 16, 1955 (aged 55)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Other namesDora Macy
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, novelist, actress
SpouseFulton Oursler
Children2

Grace Margaret Perkins (August 20, 1900 - December 16, 1955;[1] sometimes credited as Dora Macy)[2] was an American screenwriter, actress, and novelist active during the 1920s through the 1950s.[3]

Early life

Perkins's father was publisher James Lamont Perkins. She was the sister of musician Ray Perkins and actress Bobbie Perkins. Born in Boston, Perkins grew up in New York City and Westchester. She attended a Sacred Heart Catholic girls' school in Manhattan and, for one year, a boarding school. Her studies at Columbia University's School of Journalism ended with her father's death during her sophomore year.[4]

Career

After Perkins left Columbia, she studied stenography and worked with a magazine until Minnie Dupree encouraged her to try acting after they had worked together on entertainment for soldiers. Leaving the magazine, she went to Toronto, where she acted in a stock theater company, after which she performed in Rochester. Eventually, she left acting and became a newspaper reporter. Her first assignment, interviewing a woman whose husband had been murdered, turned her from covering hard news to writing book reviews and bedtime stories. Apart from that work for the newspaper, she wrote songs for children and serials and short stories for magazines.[4]

On Broadway, Perkins portrayed Rosalie in The Lullaby (1923) and Miss Larrier in Her Way Out (1924).[1]

She wrote the magazine article No More Orchids, which was the basis for the 1932 film of the same title.[5] She and Oursler wrote the play The Walking Gentleman (1942).[6]

Perkins was executive editor of a monthly magazine, Guideposts, in Carmel, N.Y..[7][8]

Dora Macy

Dora Macy occurs as a character name in fiction,[9][10] including Perkins'.[11]

Personal life

Perkins was the second wife of writer Fulton Oursler, with whom she had two children.[12] On his death, Oursler left his estate to Perkins on the understanding that she would leave the estate to his four children. When she died, she only left it to the two children she had with Oursler. Oursler's elder two children successfully sued for their share.[13]

She died in New York City in 1955, aged 55.[14]

Selected works

  • Air Hostess 1919
  • Mike 1933[15]
  • Personal Maid. Covici-Friede. 1931.
  • Ex-Mistress[16]
  • Night Nurse[16]
  • Promiscuous[17]
  • Public Sweetheart No. 1[16][17]
  • Riding High[16]
  • No More Orchids[18]
  • The Unbreakable Mrs Doll[19][20]
  • Modern Lady[21][22]
  • Twilight Cheats[23]
  • Crazy Kid[24]

Selected filmography

References

  1. 1 2 "Grace Perkins". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  2. ↑ Dance, Jim (December 15, 1963). "Ourslers' Inside Story". Detroit Free Press. p. 5 B. Retrieved August 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "The Boston Globe 15 Nov 1950, page 21". Newspapers.com. November 15, 1950. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  4. 1 2 Gnad, Betty (June 9, 1929). "Shall It Be Home or Career?". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 102. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "'No More Orchids is sparklingly modern". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Pennsylvania, Shamokin. January 4, 1933. p. 5. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Ferris, John (May 10, 1942). "Another Murderer Is Stalked on Broadway". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Wide World Features. p. 18. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Miss Oursler, Nurse, Bride". The New York Times. 1 February 1981. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Ms. Oursler Wed To James Veltrop". The New York Times. 20 November 1989. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  9. ↑ Gatchell, Charles (1886). Haschisch. A.C. McClurg. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  10. ↑ Leslie, Frank (1885). Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. Frank Leslie Publishing House. p. 275.
  11. ↑ My Past (Ex-Mistress)
  12. ↑ "26 May 1952, 2 - The Daily American at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  13. ↑ "Denker, Original Author, Feared Crisis Now Facing 'Greatest Story'; Inside Stuff on Oursler Angle". Variety. June 29, 1960. p. 4. Retrieved February 13, 2021 – via Archive.org.
  14. ↑ "The Morning Call". Newspapers.com. December 17, 1955. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  15. ↑ "A Tortured Mother". The New York Times. 7 October 1933. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "RIDING HIGH. By Dora Macy. 284 pp. New York: Farrar & Rinehart. $2". The New York Times. 29 November 1936. p. 24. Retrieved 30 December 2022. Section BR
  17. 1 2 "Light o' Love; PUBLIC SWEETHEART No 1. By Dora Macy. 372 pp. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. $2". The New York Times. 22 September 1935. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  18. ↑ "'No More Orchids' by Grace Perkins". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Dean, Charlotte (13 March 1938). "Fiction in LighterVein; ATTENTION: MISS WELLS. THE UNBREAKABLE MRS. DOLL. By Grace Perkins. 247 THERE WAS ANOTHER. THE JEWEL OF MAHABAR. THE JEWEL OF MAHABAR. THERE WAS ANOTHER". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  20. ↑ "The Unbreakable Mrs Doll: Perkins, Grace". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. ↑ "Rags to Riches; MODERN LADY. By Grace Perkins 370 pp. New York: Farrar & Rinehart. $2". The New York Times. 3 February 1935. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  22. ↑ "Modern Lady by Perkins, Grace". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  23. ↑ "Twilight Cheats by Perkins, Grace". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  24. ↑ "Crazy Kid by Grace Perkins". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 30 December 2022.


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