Horace Liveright

Horace Brisbin Liveright (pronounced "LIVE-right," anglicized by Horace's father from the German Liebrecht; 10 December 1884 – 24 September 1933) was an American publisher and stage producer. With Albert Boni, he founded the Modern Library and Boni & Liveright publishers. He published the books of numerous influential American and British authors. Turning to theatre, he produced the successful 1927 Broadway play Dracula, with Béla Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan in the roles they would make famous in the 1931 film by the same name.

Early life Liveright was born into a Jewish family in 1884, in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania. He initially followed the career of a bond salesman. He married Lucille Elsas, the daughter of Herman Elsas, the owner of a paper company that merged into International Paper; Elsas was subsequently an officer and director of the merged company. Liveright's marriage took place in April 1911, and Liveright used his father-in-law's financial backing to embark on a publishing career.

Publishing career In 1917 Liveright founded the Modern Library and Boni & Liveright publishers in New York with business partner Albert Boni. Modern Library was formed as a reprinting line, publishing inexpensive books from European modernists, while Boni & Liveright published the work of contemporary Americans. Liveright published work by T. S. Eliot (The Waste Land), Charles Fort (The Book of the Damned), Theodore Dreiser (An American Tragedy), and Bertrand Russell (Marriage and Morals). The company also published the first books by Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Hart Crane, Dorothy Parker, and S. J. Perelman.

Despite their successes, Liveright and Boni's relationship broke down and the pair chose to part ways. It is reported that they flipped a coin to decide who would buy the other out, and Liveright gained control. In 1923, Liveright's alcoholism started to take its toll. Throwing frequent, lavish parties, he would over-indulge many nights per week.

In December 1931 he married the actress Elise Bartlett, who had appeared in Show Boat and had divorced actor Joseph Schildkraut in 1930. She filed for divorce four months later.

Liveright died of pneumonia on September 24, 1933, aged forty-nine. Years of alcoholism and his business failures likely contributed to his death. Six people were said to have attended his funeral.

Portrayal and biography Ben Hecht wrote and directed the film The Scoundrel (1935), inspired by Liveright and his friend Tommy Smith. An Academy Award winner, it marked the on-screen debut for Noël Coward, who played the central character. Tom Dardis wrote a biography of Liveright, called Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright (1995) .