Paul Kester

Paul Kester (November 2, 1870 – June 21, 1933) was an American playwright and novelist. He was the younger brother of journalist Vaughan Kester and a cousin of the literary editor and critic William Dean Howells.

Life and career Kester was born in 1870 at Delaware, Ohio. He was the younger of two sons raised by Franklin "Frank" Cooley and Harriet (née Watkins) Kester. His father was a traveling salesman, and his mother was an art teacher who in 1882 helped and found the Cleveland School of Art. Kester was educated by home tutors and at private schools where he excelled in the dramatic arts.

His first success came in January 1892 with Countess Roudine, which premiered in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Theatre and opened a week later at the Union Square Theatre in New York City. Countess Roudine was a collaborative effort written with the actress Minnie Maddern Fiske.

In 1896 his adaptation of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Eugene Aram was produced by Walker Whiteside's company and in 1902 with George Middleton adapted the George W. Cable Southern romance The Cavalier that was staged at the Criterion Theatre with Julia Marlowe. Actress Annie Russell produced and starred in his 1906 Quaker tale Friend Hannah, written with the help of his brother, Vaughan. Five years later the two acquired nearby Gunston Hall, where Vaughan Kester died in 1911. A few years later Kester and his mother relocated to Belmont, an estate near Alexandria, Virginia, which is today part of the campus of St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School. Kester spent his final years at Lake Mohegan, a small community near Peekskill, New York. He died there in 1933 at the age of 62, a victim of thrombosis. At the time the closest surviving member of his family was the mezzo-soprano opera singer Florence Wickham, a cousin.

Selected works Theatre Kester's Broadway credits are recorded at the Internet Broadway Database.

Countess Roudine (written with Minnie Maddern Fiske) – January 13, 1892 – Union Square Theatre – Helena Modjeska Eugene Aram (from the book by Edward Bulwer-Lytton) –1896 tour – Walker Whiteside Sweet Nell of Old Drury – August 30, 1900 – Haymarket Theatre – Julia Neilson – January 1, 1901 Knickerbocker Theatre – Ada Rehan When Knighthood Was in Flower (from the 1898 book by Charles Major) – January 14, 1901 – Criterion Theatre (Broadway) – Julia Marlowe The Cavalier (from the book by George W. Cable) – December 8, 1902 – Criterion Theatre (Broadway) – Julia Marlowe Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (from the 1902 book by Charles Major) December 14, 1903 – New York Theatre – Bertha Galland Don Quixote (from the book by Miguel de Cervantes) – January 27, 1908 – Lyric Theatre – E. H. Sothern Beverly's Balance – Apr 12, 1915 – Lyric Theatre – Margaret Anglin The Woman of Bronze (adapted from the play by Henry Kistemaeckers) – September 7, 1920 – Frazee Theatre (Broadway) – Margaret Anglin Lady Dedlock (from Bleak House by Charles Dickens) – December 31, 1928 – Ambassador Theatre – Margaret Anglin Tom Sawyer (from the book by Mark Twain) – December 25, 1931 – Alvin Theatre, Clifford Adams (Finn) and Preston Dawson Jr. (Sawyer)

Novels More information is available in the Paul Kester Papers at the New York Public Library.