Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was an American poet, writer of fiction, and literary critic who became a leading voice of twentieth-century New York. Born Dorothy Rothschild in 1893, she grew up to be famous for her caustic wisecracks and sharp observations of urban life. Although she often dismissed her own talents and disliked being labeled a mere wisecracker, she established herself as a formidable writer during the 1920s and 1930s, leaving behind a body of work that captured both the humor and the disillusionment of her era.

Her early years in New York and New Jersey were marked by personal losses and a developing, rebellious sense of humor. Her mother died before Dorothy was five, and her stepmother passed away when she was nine. Raised on the Upper West Side, she attended a Roman Catholic elementary school, where she was asked to leave after joking that the Immaculate Conception was "spontaneous combustion." Following her father's death in 1913, she played piano at a dancing school to earn a living. She soon sold her first poem to Vanity Fair in 1914, beginning her career in publishing first at Vogue and then as a staff writer at Vanity Fair.

Parker's career flourished as she became a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers, critics, and actors who met almost daily at the Algonquin Hotel. While writing theater criticism for Vanity Fair, her sharp reviews got her fired in 1920 after she offended several prominent producers and actors. Undeterred, she wrote for other publications and helped launch The New Yorker in 1925. In 1926, she published her first poetry collection, Enough Rope, which sold 47,000 copies and featured her famous epigram about men, women, and glasses. Her verses frequently paired a dark look at failed romantic affairs and suicide with a sudden, humorous twist.

From New York to Hollywood

In the early 1930s, Parker traveled to Hollywood to write screenplays. Her work in film earned her two Academy Award nominations, though her successes there were cut short when her involvement in left-wing politics resulted in her being placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Throughout her life, from her biting theater reviews to her screenplays, Parker's sharp wit remained her signature. Her poetry continues to strike a chord with readers because she spoke honestly about heartbreak and survival. When she wrote, "And if my heart be scarred and burned, the safer I, for all I learned," she offered a comforting, clear-eyed wisdom that still rings true today.