Dorothy Parker was a leading force in American literary culture in the twentieth century. In 1919, with friends and co workers Robert Benchley and Robert E. Sherwood, she helped found the legendary Algonquin Roundtable.
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
In 1919 Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Robert E. Sherwood often walked the short way from their place of employment, “Vanity Fair Magazine” to the Algonquin Hotel where they had lunch. The group held a party at the Algonquin to welcome their friend, Alexander Woolcott, home from his service in World War I. The party was such a success that the group grew and continued to meet at the Algonquin for lunch where their literary debates became legendary.
The Round Table met for almost a decade and, during that time, Dorothy Parker honed her writing skills as a critic, columnist, poet and short story author. From 1927 to 1933 she wrote book reviews for “The New Yorker,” under the pseudonym Constant Reader where she cemented her reputation for having a quick and often acerbic wit. Her work was also published in such magazines as “Life,” “The Saturday Evening Post” and “Ladies Home Journal.”
She broadened her political horizons during this time frame when she became involved in left wing political causes. Along with other writers, like John Dos Passos and Upton Sinclair, she joined the protest against the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti. She was arrested in Boston the day before it took place and later released.
The Algonquin Round Table disbanded in 1929 when its members moved on in their careers.
Dorothy Parker in Hollywood
In 1934 Dorothy Parker married her third husband, Alan Campbell. They moved to Hollywood where they collaborated on screenplays. Their most well known, A Star is Born, was nominated for an Academy Award. Along with Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett, Parker founded SAG, the Screen Actor’s Guild.
The Hollywood years brought Dorothy Parker notoriety for more than her writing. Her left wing political tendencies continued to grow. She became active in civil rights issues and founded, with David Ogden Stewart, the Anti Nazi League. She declared herself a Communist although there is no record of Parker actually being a party member.
Dorothy Parker was zealous about the Spanish Civil War. She supported the Spanish Loyalists by both writing and speaking about them.
Her political beliefs caught up with her in 1940 when she was named a concealed Communist and called to testify before HUAC, the House of Un-American Activities Committee. She was subsequently blacklisted in Hollywood, bringing her screenwriting career to an end.
Dorothy Parker: The Later Years
After being blacklisted, Mrs. Parker returned to her roots as a magazine critic. She wrote over two hundred book reviews for “Esquire” but also continued to write and publish poetry, short stories and essays.
Dorothy Parker moved back to New York City in 1963. She died in her room at the Hotel Volney in 1967, having outlived most of her friends. An irony considering her lifelong battle with depression and alcohol had led her to attempt suicide numerous times.
An avowed supporter of civil rights, Mrs. Parker willed her estate to Martin Luther King Junior. Her cremated remains are buried at the NAACP headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland.
