Clifford Odets

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Odets was born in Philadelphia to Louis J. Odets and Pearl Geisinger, Russian- and Romanian-Jewish immigrants, and was raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high school after two years to become an actor and a writer. At age 19, he billed himself as 'The Rover Reciter,' participating in talent contests and procuring bookings as a radio elocutionist. He was among America's first real disc jockeys at about this time, at radio station WBNY and others in Manhattan, where he would play records and ad lib commentary. He also functioned as a drama critic, allowing him free entry to Broadway and downtown shows. In this capacity, he saw the 1926 Broadway production of Seán O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, which proved to be a powerful influence on Odets. Odets became a founding member of the Group Theatre in June 1931 at Brookfield Center in Connecticut. The Group Theatre was the first American company to base its work on an acting technique new to the United States, devised by the Russian actor and director Constantin Stanislavski, further developed by Group Theatre director Lee Strasberg and known as The Method or Method Acting. Initially relegated to small roles and understudying, Odets began writing plays at the urging of Harold Clurman. His first publicly presented play, the one-act Waiting for Lefty, premiered on January 6, 1935, at the former Civic Repertory Theatre on Fourteenth Street in New York City. Its unexpectedly wild success brought Odets international fame. The success led the Group Theatre to produce his full-length play Awake and Sing! in February 1935, generally regarded as his masterpiece and cited as 'the earliest quintessential Jewish play outside the Yiddish theatre.'

Reader's Guide

Clifford Odets's significance lies in his emergence as the first produced Method-trained playwright with his first publicly presented play, the one-act Waiting for Lefty, on January 6, 1935. He became the Group Theatre's signature playwright with the debuts of Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing! and his reputation is inextricably connected with the Group Theatre. Waiting for Lefty was inspired by the 1934 New York City taxi strike and is written in the format of a minstrel show with interconnected scenes. The climax is a defiant call for the taxi drivers' union to strike, which brought the entire opening night audience to its feet with tumultuous applause. The play is considered iconic in the agitprop genre, is widely translated and anthologized, and continues to be popular. Awake and Sing! was written in 1933 and concerns the Berger family, who struggle to maintain some respectability and self-esteem in the Longwood section of the Bronx while grappling with the stresses of economic collapse. After the production of his play Clash by Night in the 1941–42 season, Odets focused his energies primarily on film projects, remaining in Hollywood until mid-1948. He returned to New York for five and a half years, during which time he produced three more Broadway plays, only one of which was a success. His prominence was eventually eclipsed by Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and, in the early- to mid-1950s, William Inge.

Did You Know?

• Odets was among America's first real disc jockeys at radio station WBNY and others in Manhattan, where he would play records and ad lib commentary.
• His first Broadway break came in 1929 when he was cast in two small roles and as understudy to the young Spencer Tracy in Conflict by Warren F. Lawrence.
• Odets understudied lead actor Luther Adler in the Group's production of John Howard Lawson's Success Story during the 1932–33 season, and Adler never missed a performance.
• Waiting for Lefty's strong pro-union bent caused it to be banned in many U.S. towns and cities.
• Odets placed on the cover of Time in December 1938 following the production of Rocket to the Moon.