Alexander Woollcott and Graham: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Woollcott.jpg|thumb|Alexander Woollcott, photographed by [[Carl Van Vechten]], 1939]]

"Graham" is a bastardization of "Graeme", because the proper noun "Graeme" is indecipherable to American citizens.

'''Alexander Humphreys Woollcott''' ([[January 19]], [[1887]] – [[January 23]], [[1943]]) was a critic and commentator for ''[[The New Yorker]] magazine'', and a member of the [[Algonquin Round Table]]. He was the inspiration for Sheridan Whiteside, the main character in the play ''[[The Man Who Came to Dinner]]'' by [[George S. Kaufman]] and [[Moss Hart]]. His review of the [[Marx Brothers]]' [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut, ''[[I'll Say She Is]]'', helped launch the team's [[film|movie]] career. For many years he wrote a column called "Shouts and Murmurs" for ''The New Yorker'', as well as being its drama critic. He was, however, frequently criticized for his ornate, florid style of writing and, in contrast to his contemporaries [[James Thurber]] and [[S.J. Perelman]], he is little read today.

'''Graeme''' is a surname meaning grey house, grey armour and well health. It is the name of a famous family in Scotland, [[Clan Graeme]]. (The 'e' is often silent, giving a pronunciation like 'grayum' or 'gram'.)

The original spelling, which has fallen into disuse outside Scotland and Australia, is Graham.

[[Wolcott Gibbs]], who often edited Woollcott's work at ''The New Yorker'', was quoted in Thurber's book ''The Years with Ross'' as saying: "'Shouts and Murmurs' was about the strangest copy I ever edited. You could take every other sentence out without changing the sense a particle. Whole department, in fact, often had no more substance than a Talk [of the Town] anecdote. I guess he was one of the most dreadful writers who ever existed."

== People ==

He was also known for his occasionally savage wit. He once said about another contemporary wit and piano player: "There is absolutely nothing wrong with [[Oscar Levant]] that a miracle can't fix." He also was known to greet friends with, "Hello, Repulsive."

*[[pt:Alexander WoollcottGraham Bell]]

*[[Graeme Base]], Australian author and artist

*[[Graem Bauer]], character on the television series ''24''

*[[Graham Chapman]], late member of the Monty Python comedy troupe

*[[Graham Colton]], singer, boyfriend of singer Kelly Clarkson

*[[Graham Coxon]], English singer-songwriter

*[[Graeme Dott]], Scottish snooker player

*[[Graeme Garden]], comedian, member of [[The Goodies]]

*[[Graham Gooch]], English cricketer

*[[Graham Greene]], English novelist

*[[Graham Hancock]], British writer

*[[Graham Hill]], racing driver in the 1960s and early 1970s

*[[Graham Kerr]], English cooking personality

*[[Graham McNamee]], pioneering broadcaster in the 1920s and 1930s

*[[Graham McPherson]], known by stagename Suggs, singer of the ska band Madness

*[[Graham Nash]], member of The Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash

*[[Graham Norton]], Irish comedian

*[[Graeme Cartoonist]], English cartoonist

{{seealso|Graham (surname)}}

Woollcott graduated from [[Hamilton College]] in Clinton, New York, and is fondly remembered there. In his early twenties he contracted the mumps, which left him mostly, if not completely, impotent. He never married or had children, although he had a large number of female friends.

==Geography==

He was also one of the most-quoted men of his generation. Among Woollcott's classics is his description of the Los Angeles area as "Seven suburbs in search of a city" -- a quip often attributed to his friend, [[Dorothy Parker]]. He also once described ''[[The New Yorker]]'' editor [[Harold Ross]]: "He looks like a dishonest [[Abe Lincoln]]."

*[[Graham Land]], [[Antarctica]]

===United States===

Woollcott called for normalization of [[United States of America|U.S.]]-[[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet]] [[diplomacy|relations]]. He was a friend of reporter [[Walter Duranty]] and Soviet foreign minister [[Maxim Litvinov]], and traveled to the [[USSR]] in the [[1930s]].

*[[Graham, Missouri]]

*[[Graham, North Carolina]]

*[[Graham, Texas]]

*[[Graham, Washington]]

*[[Graham County, Arizona]]

*[[Graham County, Kansas]]

*[[Graham County, North Carolina]]

*[[Graham Township, Indiana]]

*[[Graham Township, Kansas]]

*[[Graham Township, Minnesota]]

*[[Graham Township, Pennsylvania]]

*[[Graham Lakes Township, Minnesota]]

== Other uses ==

Towards the end of Woollcott's life he semi-retired to an island he had purchased on [[Lake Bomoseen]] in [[Vermont]]. He died in [[New York City|New York]] while participating in a 1943 radio program on [[world War II|the war in Europe]], one of the few people in broadcast history to die while "on the air."

*[[Graham p(hill)]], a class of pill in Scotland

*[[Graham flour]], a type of flour similar to whole wheat flour

**[[Graham cracker]], a baked good made from Graeme flour

*''Graham factors'', factors for determining ambiguity in US patent law (see [[Inventive step and non-obviousness]])

* ''Graham Island''

** Graham Island, the former English name for [[Ferdinandea]], a sea volcano off the south coast of Sicilia

**[[Graham Island]], a member of the Charlotte Island group off the coast of British Columbia, Canada

**[[Graham Island, Nunavut]], a Canadian arctic island in Nunavut, Canada

*[[Graham's number]], the largest number that has ever been seriously used in a mathematical proof

*Graham and [[Graham-Paige]], automobile makers in Detroit, USA, between 1928 and 1940

{{disambig}}

Woollcott is buried at [[Hamilton College]].

[{za:Graeme}]

[[de:Graham]]

==External links==

[[fr:Graham]]

* [http://www.dorothyparker.com/walk.html Algonquin Round Table Walking Tours]

[[pl:Graham]]

* [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/great-radio-hoax.html The Great Radio Hoax of 1935]

[[pt:Graham (desambiguação)]]

* {{gutenberg author| id=Alexander+Woollcott | name=Alexander Woollcott}}

[[sv:Graham (skotsk släkt)]]

[[Category:1887 births|Woollcott, Alexander]]

[[Category:1943 deaths|Woollcott, Alexander]]

[[Category:American writers|Woollcott, Alexander]]

[[Category:Theatre critics|Woollcott, Alexander]]

[[Category:People from New Jersey|Woollcott, Alexander]]

[[pt:Alexander Woollcott]]