The New York Times: James Thurber
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James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, and attended Ohio State University (OSU), leaving in 1918 without graduating. He spent over a year in Paris, working for the US State Department as a code clerk, and on his return to Columbus in 1920 was hired as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. He married his first wi…
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culture · American cartoonist, author, journalist, and playwright (1894–1961) · journalist · writer · novelist · playwright · children's writer · autobiographer · draftsperson · humorist · short story writer · essayist · also James Thurber, James Grover Thurber, Thurber
Born 8 December 1894 · Died 2 November 1961 · Q124527
37 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 1 entry
2024· 1 entry
An additional award for cartoon artists was added
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2014· 1 entry
Moviefone: James Thurber The Life and Hard Times (2014) - Where to Watch
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1995· 1 entry
Thurber was posthumously awarded a degree by Ohio State University
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1961· 7 entries
Died 1961-11-02.
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“A pinch of probably is worth a pound of perhabs.”
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“A drawing is always dragged down to the level of its caption.”
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“He knows all about art, but he doesn't know what he likes.”
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“Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?”
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“The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel.”
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“All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”
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1960· 1 entry
Thurber received a special Tony Award for A Thurber Carnival
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1959· 2 entries
Titled The Battle of the Sexes and starring Peter Sellers
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To suggest a dramatization of some of her favorite works of his
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1957· 1 entry
After Maxwell was unable to agree with Thurber on cuts that he wanted, and Thurber's relationship with the magazine, and his letters to them, became more and more ill-tempered
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1953· 1 entry
Was given a special career award by the Ohioana Library Association
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1952· 1 entry
His and Nugent's play, The Male Animal, was revived on Broadway for a two-week run
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1950· 2 entries
Helen was hospitalized for a hysterectomy, and soon afterwards she and James went to Bermuda to relax and recover
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Williams College in 1951, and Yale in 1953
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1949· 1 entry
The walls with his cartoons were carefully moved to the new location to preserve them
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1944· 1 entry
Thurber had sold the film rights for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" to Samuel Goldwyn
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1940· 1 entry
With Ruth Matteson, Matt Briggs, and Gene Tierney in the leading roles
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1938· 1 entry
And a college friend, Elliott Nugent, wrote a play, The Male Animal, which had a successful run in 1940 and 1941 and was later made into a film
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1935· 1 entry
And Althea divorced, and he immediately remarried, to Helen Wismer
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1934· 1 entry
Began a series of radio broadcasts on WABC, filling in for Alexander Woollcott, another New Yorker writer who was in hospital
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1933· 1 entry
Drawings by Thurber and George Grosz were shown at Smith College, and in 1934 there was a Thurber show at the Valentine Gallery in Manhattan
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1932· 1 entry
In the January 30 issue, and became "one of the most celebrated and often-reprinted cartoons of the twentieth century", in Bernstein's words
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1931· 2 entries
Althea moved back to Manhattan, and for a short time the marriage seemed healthy, but after a few weeks, James decided to leave Althea and live with Paula Trueman, an actress he had a relationship with
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In Thurber's second book, The Owl in the Attic, which also included the Monroe stories and a series of articles that had appeared in The New Yorker parodying H
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1930· 1 entry
Began printing his artwork, in a series of parodies of advice columns about readers' pets
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1929· 2 entries
Agreed to begin living more separate lives: they rented a house in Silvermine, Connecticut, and Althea stayed there; James spent most of his time in Manhattan, visiting Silvermine occasionally
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Picked up a discarded cartoon of Thurber's, of a seal seeing explorers in the distance
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1925· 1 entry
Thurber had been offered a job at the New York Evening Post, and had turned it down; he was able to get the offer renewed and now accepted it
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1920· 1 entry
Was hired as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch
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1918· 1 entry
Studied at Ohio State University (1913–1918).
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1904· 1 entry
And when he did not recover quickly the family moved into Mame's parents' house
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1894· 1 entry
Born 1894-12-08.
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