Who was Maxwell Anderson?
WALTER: Playwright. He wrote Winterset, which was considered one of the greatest plays on Broadway in the 1930’s. JON: I don’t know that one. I have in fact seen several films based on the plays of Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959), including MARY OF SCOTLAND (1936), KEY LARGO (1948) and THE BAD SEED (1956), but my favorite is THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939), starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. Sherwood Anderson (1886-1941) wrote novels and short stories. He published Winesburg, Ohio in 1919. WALTER: Anyway, when my generation came along, suddenly everybody since wants to be a great director. I have a daughter at NYU now; she’s very bright and creative—”promising,” as parents always say—what does she want to be? A director. I asked her, “Why don’t you be a novelist?” Nope. Not interested. JON: Is she at all into your work? WALTER: No, not at all. I mean, I love her dearly, and we’re very close, but I don’t think she has any natural inclination to my work. She just doesn’t
