Clare Boothe Luce (1903–1987)
Author of The Women
About the Author
Clare Boothe Luce was born on March 10, 1903, in New York City. She was the wife of Henry Luce, publisher of Time, Life, and Fortune. She was twice elected to the House of Representatives from 1943 to 1947 and served as an ambassador to Italy from 1953 to 1956. President Reagan awarded her the show more Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983. She was the first female member of Congress to receive this award. Luce began her career in writing with Vogue magazine and later worked her way up to managing editor of Vanity Fair. Luce's 1936 play, The Women, was an instant smash on Broadway. She also authored Europe in the Spring, a non-fiction book. Clare Boothe Luce died of brain cancer on October 9, 1987, at age 84, at her Watergate apartment in Washington, D.C. She is buried at Mepkin Abbey, South Carolina, a plantation that she and Henry Luce had once owned and given to a community of Trappist monks. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Carl Van Vechten: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten photograph collection
(REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-116604)
Works by Clare Boothe Luce
Associated Works
First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (1984) — Introduction, some editions — 190 copies, 1 review
On the Firing Line: The Public Life of Our Public Figures (1989) — Contributor — 114 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Boothe, Ann Clare (born)
Luce, Ann Clare Boothe (married) - Birthdate
- 1903-03-10
- Date of death
- 1987-10-09
- Burial location
- Mepkin Abbey, South Carolina, USA
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Washington, DC, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
Washington, D.C., USA
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Union City, New Jersey, USA - Occupations
- playwright
politician
ambassador
Representative - Relationships
- Luce, Henry R. (husband)
- Awards and honors
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (1983)
Laetare Medal (1957)
Members
Reviews
The Women. (Acting Edition for Theater Productions) by Clare Boothe Luce
adult drama; women/divorce in the 1960s. As mentioned in one of the special features on Mad Men. Kind of interesting as a historical perspective, but kind of unremarkable otherwise.
I'm trying to keep in mind when this play was written and all, but holy jeebus I was really annoyed with pretty much every character, even when they were being hilarious.
I'm sure I'm missing some higher point here but with plays, where the dialogue is everything, I find it hard to accommodate talk over why one character's cook brings out such drab meals or why the Princess is trading on her title in the department store dressing room. Men - even the presumed best of them - are resigned to being shallow cheaters and still somehow fought over by the women.
Class divisions and gender divisions are very actively drawn here, even as the women themselves seem to find multiple methods by which to be mean to each other. As they say, 'When you have friends like these...' While it seems clear that Luce is commenting on the shallowness of rich women (to a certain degree anyway), I find it hard to read a play where the characters are for the most part wholly unsympathetic.… (more)
I'm sure I'm missing some higher point here but with plays, where the dialogue is everything, I find it hard to accommodate talk over why one character's cook brings out such drab meals or why the Princess is trading on her title in the department store dressing room. Men - even the presumed best of them - are resigned to being shallow cheaters and still somehow fought over by the women.
Class divisions and gender divisions are very actively drawn here, even as the women themselves seem to find multiple methods by which to be mean to each other. As they say, 'When you have friends like these...' While it seems clear that Luce is commenting on the shallowness of rich women (to a certain degree anyway), I find it hard to read a play where the characters are for the most part wholly unsympathetic.… (more)
Substance: Character study of women reacting to straying husbands, with a few straying wives included. Hate masquerading as friendship. Pride leading to fall. That sort of thing. The protagonist is charming, but the husband may not deserve his second chance.
Style: 1950s tone and sentiments. Black and white cinematography with a color interpolation of a fashion show, just for fun. Has male characters off-stage, but none ever appear on-screen.
NOTES: A later remake is lacking, says my friend S.M.… (more)
Style: 1950s tone and sentiments. Black and white cinematography with a color interpolation of a fashion show, just for fun. Has male characters off-stage, but none ever appear on-screen.
NOTES: A later remake is lacking, says my friend S.M.… (more)
The play The Women by Clare Booth Luce is a drama which examines marriage and it's impact on a small group of wealthy socialites in the 1960's. The first scene presents a revelation that sets a domino effect of events that is basically comprised by affairs, gossip and divorce. It paints a pretty grim and hopefully inaccurate picture of women and their "friendships."
This isn't a timeless drama...thankfully. It wasn't all that entertaining or realistic either. Luce's views on men and marriage may have been shocking and groudbreaking at the time, but in 2009 it reads as cliched and uninspired.… (more)
This isn't a timeless drama...thankfully. It wasn't all that entertaining or realistic either. Luce's views on men and marriage may have been shocking and groudbreaking at the time, but in 2009 it reads as cliched and uninspired.… (more)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 13
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 402
- Popularity
- #60,416
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 6
- ISBNs
- 15
