[248] His work on Three Comrades (1938) became his sole screenplay credit. Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940, at the age of 44, in Hollywood, California. In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day. [b][44] Zelda was one of the most celebrated debutantes of Montgomery's exclusive country club set. [250] In 1939, MGM terminated his contract, and Fitzgerald became a freelance screenwriter. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred. [336] Critic Paul Rosenfeld wrote that many of Fitzgerald's short stories "lie on a plane inferior to the one upon which his best material extends. After two years lost to alcohol and depression, in 1937 Fitzgerald attempted to revive his career as a screenwriter and freelance storywriter in Hollywood, and he achieved modest financial, if not critical, success for his efforts before his death in 1940. "After the book came out, Eleanor and her siblings [Samuel Jackson, Jr., and Cecilia Scott] agreed to donate the papers to Vassar, Scottie's alma mater," says Streett. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway. "[113] Fitzgerald later used some of her rambling almost verbatim for Daisy Buchanan's dialogue in The Great Gatsby. By Robert Westbrook. [170] Fitzgerald decided to have sex with a prostitute to prove his heterosexuality. She was far more than merely the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, who called her "the first American flapper.". [142] Before any confrontation could occur, Jozanwho had no intention of marrying Zeldaleft the Riviera, and the Fitzgeralds never saw him again. Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy. [261] When Fitzgerald's poorly embalmed corpse arrived in Bethesda, Maryland, only thirty people attended his funeral. American author of novels and short stories, Born on Thursday, September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA , United States, Died on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: F. Scott FITZGERALD (1896), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. [75], While revising his novel, Fitzgerald took a job repairing car roofs at the Northern Pacific Shops in St. One week after the publication of Fitzgeralds first novel, This Side of Paradise, the couple married. [157], After wintering in Italy, the Fitzgeralds returned to France, where they alternated between Paris and the French Riviera until 1926. [21], During his sophomore year, an 18-year-old Fitzgerald returned home to Saint Paul during Christmas break where he met and fell in love with 16-year-old Chicago debutante Ginevra King. [254] Approaching the final year of life, Fitzgerald wrote regretfully to his daughter: "I wish now I'd never relaxed or looked backbut said at the end of The Great Gatsby: I've found my linefrom now on this comes first. [191] In February 1932, she underwent hospitalization at the Phipps Clinic at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. By then, Lanahan had learned to deflect the questions people often flung at her once they discovered she was related to Fitzgerald, exchanges she says she found deeply embarrassing. In college, she says, I was reading [Gatsby] in self-defense. [28] Her return home ended Fitzgerald's weekly courtship. [344][345] Due to this thematic focus, his works became a sensation among college students, and the press depicted him as the standard-bearer for "youth in revolt". In 1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in despair to his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald, saying that he was a "forgotten man," due to his declining literary reputation in the wake of the failure of his third and fourth novels, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. His private life, with his wife, Zelda, in both America and France, became almost . [24] She would become his literary model for the characters of Isabelle Borg in This Side of Paradise, Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, and many others. I Worry About What Would Happen If I Choke on Food When Im Alone, 4. [398] When reading This Side of Paradise, Fay wrote to Fitzgerald that the use of his own biographical experiences told in confidence to the young author "gave him a queer feeling. Thanks for reading. "[106] In Fitzgerald's eyes, the era represented a morally permissive time when Americans became disillusioned with prevailing social norms and obsessed with self-gratification. Fitzgerald was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry and assigned to Camp Sheridan outside of Montgomery, Alabama. His father was an executive at 'Procter & Gamble' at the time of his birth. There, he met Father Sigourney Fay, who noticed his incipient talent with the written word and encouraged him to pursue his literary ambitions. Fitzgeralds namesake (and second cousin three times removed on his father's side) was .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics to the "Star-Spangled Banner.". 2023 When director Baz Luhrmann went on The Colbert Report last week to talk about his new adaptation of The Great Gatsby, he mentioned that a very regal woman took him by the hands after the movies world premiere and told him shed come all the way from Vermont to see what hed done with her grandfathers book. [89] At the time of their wedding, Fitzgerald claimed neither he nor Zelda still loved each other,[87][90] and the early years of their marriage were more akin to a friendship.[88][91]. [107], During this hedonistic era, alcohol increasingly fueled the Fitzgeralds' social life,[108] and the couple consumed gin-and-fruit concoctions at every outing. Isn't Hollywood a dumpin the human sense of the word. If you want to know about the South, you read Faulkner. [187] Following this homicidal incident, doctors diagnosed Zelda with schizophrenia in June 1930. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. [223] From 1933 to 1937, he was hospitalized for alcoholism eight times. His mother was from a wealthy family, and his father, Edward, was a . [237] The reunion proved a disaster due to Fitzgerald's uncontrollable alcoholism, and a disappointed Ginevra returned east to Chicago. He is unconcerned about the sweating and suffering of the nether herd". Luhrmann reached out to Lanahan about four years ago when he began work on the film. [169] After examining it in a public restroom, Hemingway confirmed Fitzgerald's penis to be of average size. Lanahan even got on board with the 3-D format, which she says gave the story a surreal, almost fable-like quality. When he was 13, he saw his first piece of writing appear in print: a detective story published in the school newspaper. "[212], With his popularity decreased, Fitzgerald began to suffer financially and, by 1936, his book royalties amounted to $80. [25][26] While Fitzgerald attended Princeton, Ginevra attended Westover, a Connecticut women's school. Although The Great Gatsby was well-received when it was published, it was not until the 1950s and '60s, long after Fitzgerald's death, that it achieved its stature as the definitive portrait of the "Roaring Twenties," as well as one of the greatest American novels ever written. Fitzgerald died believing himself a failure, since none of his works received more than modest commercial or critical success during his lifetime. [354] Mere weeks after Fitzgerald's death in 1940, Westbrook Pegler wrote in a column for The New York World-Telegram that the author's passing recalled "memories of a queer bunch of undisciplined and self-indulgent brats who were determined not to pull their weight in the boat and wanted the world to drop everything and sit down and bawl with them. [225], By that same year, Zelda's intense suicidal mania necessitated her extended confinement at the Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. [119] Fitzgerald wished to halt the show and disavow the production. [252], Director Billy Wilder described Fitzgerald's foray into Hollywood as like that of "a great sculptor who is hired to do a plumbing job". [238] After having a heart-attack at Schwab's Pharmacy, Fitzgerald was advised by his doctor to avoid strenuous exertion. [34][35] While awaiting deployment to the Western front where he hoped to die in combat,[35] he was stationed in a training camp at Fort Leavenworth under the command of Captain Dwight Eisenhower, the future general of the Army and United States President. In a letter, Fitzgerald insisted he only became an alcoholic after college. [61] Likewise, Zelda's Episcopalian family was wary of Scott because of his Catholic background, precarious finances, and excessive drinking. Scott's father, Edward, was a businessman. [372][373] His later life as an expatriate in Europe and as a writer in Hollywood reinforced this lifelong sense of being an outsider. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}11 Best Judy Blume Books of All-Time, Meet Stand-Up Comedy Pioneer Charles Farrar Browne. [204] Hemingway and others argued that such criticism stemmed from superficial readings of the material and from Depression-era America's reaction to Fitzgerald's status as a symbol of Jazz Age excess. While we've appreciated the suggestions and insights, right now Seven Days is prioritizing our core mission producing high-quality, responsible local journalism over moderating online debates between readers. [289] Although his peers eventually hailed him as possessing "the best narrative gift of the century," this narrative gift was not perceived as immediately evident in his earliest writings. His wife, Zelda, who has been insane for years, is now confined at the Sheppard-Pratt Hospital, and he is living in Park Avenue with his little daughter, Scottie". Video: Last Lambing Season for Chet and Kate Parsons at the Parsons Farm in Richford, 5. [369][370] As a young boy growing up in the eastern Midwest, he perpetually strained "to meet the standard of the rich people of St. Paul and Chicago among whom he had to grow up without ever having the money to compete with them". Although 'The Great Gatsby' was well-received when it was published, it was long after Fitzgerald's death that it was regarded as one of the greatest American novels ever written. [n][343], With his debut novel, Fitzgerald became the first writer to turn the national spotlight upon this generation. [149] Fitzgerald declined a $10,000 offer for the serial rights, as it would delay the book's publication. [257] Watched by onlookers, he remarked in a strained voice to Graham, "I suppose people will think I'm drunk. They are different from you and me. You've read my books. [113], After his daughter's birth, Fitzgerald returned to drafting The Beautiful and Damned. [193], During this time, Fitzgerald rented the "La Paix" estate in the suburb of Towson, Maryland, and worked on his next novel, which drew heavily on recent experiences. [315] He was particularly influenced by Cather's 1923 work, A Lost Lady,[316] which features a wealthy married socialite pursued by a number of romantic suitors and who symbolically embodies the American dream. [258] Lying flat on his back, he gasped and lapsed into unconsciousness. [f] It would take decades for the novel to gain its present acclaim and popularity. "[398], Fitzgerald continued this practice throughout his life. [209] As writer Budd Schulberg recalled, "my generation thought of F. Scott Fitzgerald as an age rather than a writer, and when the economic stroke of 1929 began to change the sheiks[i] and flappers into unemployed boys or underpaid girls, we consciously and a little belligerently turned our backs on Fitzgerald. [45] A romance soon blossomed,[46] although he continued writing Ginevra, asking in vain if there was any chance of resuming their former relationship. Her daughter, Blake Hazard of the indie-pop group the Submarines, appears in some of the movies party scenes as a dancer. [209] In 1933, journalist Matthew Josephson criticized Fitzgerald's short stories saying that many Americans could no longer afford to drink champagne whenever they pleased or to go on vacation to Montparnasse in Paris. A kick in the pants and a clout over the scalp were more like their needing."[355]. [175] Fitzgerald later rewrote Rosemary Hoytone of the central characters in Tender is the Nightto mirror Moran. He had completed over half the manuscript when he died in 1940. Scott was the best friend a person could have to me". While he was at Princeton . [157], By the 21st century, The Great Gatsby had sold millions of copies, and the novel is required reading in many high school and college classes. [70] Unable to earn a successful living, Fitzgerald publicly threatened to jump to his death from a window ledge of the Yale Club,[d][72] and he carried a revolver daily while contemplating suicide. I hope it's beautiful and a foola beautiful little fool. While writing The Beautiful and Damned, Fitzgerald inserted sentences from his wife's diary. [135] He continued writing his third novel, which would eventually become his magnum opus The Great Gatsby. [174] He agreed and moved into a studio-owned bungalow with Zelda in January 1927. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a legendary figure of the 1920s, was an extremely observant artist, a beautiful writer, and an exceptional craftsman. [368], Much of Fitzgerald's fiction is informed by his life experiences as a societal outsider. The story was centered on Amory Blaine, an ambitious Midwesterner who falls in love with, but is ultimately rejected by, two girls from high-class families. [178] The starlet became a muse for the author, and he wrote her into a short story called "Magnetism", in which a young Hollywood film starlet causes a married writer to waver in his sexual devotion to his wife. Almost overnight, it turned Fitzgerald, at the age of 24, into one of the country's most promising young writers. [365] Although scholars posit different explanations for the continuation of class differences in the United States, there is a consensus regarding Fitzgerald's belief in its underlying permanence. By this time, the field of literature had greatly changed due to the onset of the Great Depression, and once popular writers such as Fitzgerald and Hemingway who wrote about upper-middle-class lifestyles were now disparaged in literary periodicals whereas so-called "proletarian novelists" enjoyed general applause. [201] Scribner's published Zelda's novel in October 1932, but it was a commercial and critical failure. [19] As the semesters passed, he formed close friendships with classmates Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bishop, both of whom would later aid his literary career. [105] He described the era as racing "along under its own power, served by great filling stations full of money. My mother didnt talk about him, says Lanahan. All Rights Reserved. According to biographer Andrew Turnbull, "one day, drinking martinis in the upstairs lounge, [Fitzgerald] announced that he was going to jump out of the window. "[98], As Fitzgerald was one of the most celebrated novelists during the Jazz Age, many admirers sought his acquaintanceship. Zelda Fitzgerald (July 24, 1900 - March 10, 1948), known for her beauty and personality, made a name for herself as a socialite, novelist, dancer, and painter. [215], As he had been an alcoholic for many years,[j][216] Fitzgerald's heavy drinking undermined his health by the late 1930s. But that was a one-time thing, she says. Yourcontribution will be matched! However by the end of the 1920s Fitzgerald descended into drinking, and Zelda had a mental breakdown. [150] Upon its release on April10, 1925, Willa Cather, T. S. Eliot, and Edith Wharton praised Fitzgerald's work,[151] and the novel received generally favorable reviews from contemporary literary critics. His debut novel, The Fitzgeralds' French identity card photos, 1929. [217] His alcoholism resulted in cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, angina, dyspnea, and syncopal spells. Fitzgerald was buried instead with a simple Protestant service at Rockville Cemetery. Jared Paul Stern. [248] To the studio's annoyance, Fitzgerald ignored scriptwriting rules and included descriptions more fitting for a novel. "[275], Within one year after his death, Edmund Wilson completed Fitzgerald's unfinished fifth novel The Last Tycoon using the author's extensive notes,[l][277] and he included The Great Gatsby within the edition, sparking new interest and discussion among critics. In 1930, Zelda suffered a breakdown. [395][396] While writing This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald quoted verbatim entire letters sent to him by his Catholic mentor, Father Sigourney Fay. [326] After reading Gatsby, Gertrude Stein declared that Fitzgerald would "be read when many of his well-known contemporaries are forgotten. "[257], The following day, as Fitzgerald annotated his newly arrived Princeton Alumni Weekly,[258] Graham saw him jump from his armchair, grab the mantelpiece, and collapse on the floor without uttering a sound. [68] In the wake of Fitzgerald's rejection by Ginevra two years prior, his subsequent rejection by Zelda dispirited him. Scottie Fitzgerald Smith, the only child of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, died early today at her home after a long battle with cancer. As Luhrmann noted on Colbert, Lanahan is an elegant lady but shes also endearingly down to earth. [413] Nearly every novel by Fitzgerald has been adapted for the screen. [245] After visiting several bookstores, he realized they had stopped carrying his works. [81], Fitzgerald's new fame enabled him to earn much higher rates for his short stories,[82] and Zelda resumed their engagement as Fitzgerald could now pay for her accustomed lifestyle. [332], From 1920 until his death, Fitzgerald published nearly four pieces per year in the magazine and, in 1931 alone, he earned nearly $40,000 (equivalent to $712,735 in 2021) by churning out seventeen short stories in quick succession. [162] Hemingway claimed that Zelda preferred her husband to write lucrative short stories as opposed to novels in order to support her accustomed lifestyle. Beginning in the late 1920s, Zelda suffered from mental health issues, and the couple moved back and forth between Delaware and France. [281] In 1952, critic Cyril Connolly observed that "apart from his increasing stature as writer, Fitzgerald is now firmly established as a myth, an American version of the Dying God, an Adonis of letters" whose rise and fall inevitably prompts comparisons to the Jazz Age itself. One week later, he married the woman he loved and his muse, Zelda Sayre. Esquire originally published the Pat Hobby Stories between January 1940 and July 1941. [240], Throughout their relationship, Graham claimed Fitzgerald felt constant guilt over Zelda's mental illness and confinement. . [324][325] Edith Wharton lauded Gatsby as such an improvement upon Fitzgerald's previous work that it represented a "leap into the future" for American novels,[324] and T. S. Eliot believed it represented a turning point in American literature. 'Zelda and I drank with them. Fitzgerald had to climb two flights of stairs to his apartment, while Graham lived on the ground floor. During her youth, Zelda Sayre's wealthy Southern family employed half-a-dozen domestic servants, many of whom were African-American. F. That same year was admitted to a mental health clinic in Switzerland. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 - December 21, 1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. [185] That winter, Zelda's behavior grew increasingly erratic and violent. [172] In December 1926, after two unpleasant years in Europe which considerably strained their marriage, the Fitzgeralds returned to America. [152] Despite this reception, Gatsby became a commercial failure compared to his previous efforts, This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922). He attended the St. Paul Academy. [249] In his spare time, he worked on his fifth novel, The Last Tycoon,[l] based on film executive Irving Thalberg. Riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky; I began to bawl because I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.
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