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She graduated from Shaw High School, where she skipped two grades. Among other subjects, she studied French. She was known as something of a tomboy and was the only girl to play on the East
Cleveland boys baseball team (she played first base). She joined the Northern Ohio Debating League. She
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After this, Ruth returned to New York City, but stopped writing. "My mother never quite recovered from her sister's death", Eileen
Bransten noted. Ruth McKenney Bransten died in New York on July 25, 1972, aged 60. She had suffered from heart disease and diabetes.
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was published and four days before its first stage version opened on
Broadway. West, who had run a stop sign, also died in the same accident. On November 18, 1955, Ruth McKenney's 44th birthday, her husband Richard Bransten committed suicide in London.
188:, but did not graduate. Early in her college career, she and her grandmother ran a small business writing homework papers for football players, wrestlers, and other students. She also wrote for the student newspaper, the
330:, for which she paid $ 45 a month (equivalent to $ 970 in 2023) The apartment was burgled within the first week of the six months they lived there. The apartment would become the setting of a series of stories in
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on
November 18, 1911, to John Sidney McKenney, a mechanical engineer and Marguerite Flynn, a grade school teacher. Her younger sister, Eileen (born April 3, 1913), later married author
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484:. It opened on Broadway on February 25, 1953, and ran for 559 performances until July 3, 1954. Since then it has been periodically revived both on and off Broadway.
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described herself as "homely as a mud fence", especially compared to her sister Eileen, though she likely exaggerated for comic effect. She also stuttered.
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She attempted to commit suicide once during high school but was rescued by Eileen. At the age of 14, she ran away from home, worked as a
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639:(1947), a collection of stories about an Irish widower raising four daughters in Cleveland, based on her grandfather
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83:(November 18, 1911 – July 25, 1972) was an American author and journalist, best remembered for
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Ruth McKenney's daughter Eileen
Bransten remembers her aunt, Eileen, for whom she was named
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magazine discusses the expulsions of McKenney and her husband from the U.S. Communist Party
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wrote a script titled "Maggie," which was based on her girlhood stories as collected in
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and was just 27 when she died in a road accident on
December 22, 1940, two years after
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was published in book form in 1938, and later adapted under the same name into a
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Fields and
Chodorov later adapted their play My Sister Eileen as the musical
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has been adapted a number of times for stage, film and television. In 1940,
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She wrote numerous short pieces for a variety of publications, including
667:(1954), a humorous account of her family's two-year residence in Brussels
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chronicled the struggles of some common
Americans between 1900 and 1930.
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In 1934, McKenney moved to New Jersey, where she joined the staff of the
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Lonelyhearts: The
Screwball World of Nathanael West and Eileen McKenney
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in 1946. The film was later adapted for television in the early 1960s.
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In 1937, McKenney married fellow writer Richard Bransten (pen name
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based on McKenney's childhood stories was written and directed by
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618:(1939), a novel about the Akron rubber strike from 1932 to 1936
89:, a memoir of her experiences growing up in Ohio and moving to
673:(1956), an historical novel set in Napoleonic France and Egypt
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was adapted as a television series that ran for 26 episodes.
988:"Ruth McKenney Is Dead at 60; Author of 'My Sister Eileen'"
743:. She also wrote screenplays with her husband, including
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was a New York State Supreme Court justice in Manhattan.
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173:. At 16, she and Eileen got jobs as waitresses at the
645:(1950), the story of her marriage to Richard Bransten
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Originally published as a series of short stories in
955:"'Sister Eileen' to Daughter, Eileen, a State Judge"
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While in college, McKenney worked part-time for the
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570:In 1939, Ruth's sister Eileen married novelist
543:In 1956, John Boruff adapted McKenney's novel
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574:. Eileen had been an ink-and-paint artist at
8:
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238:introducing citations to additional sources
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828:Ruth McKenney and Richard Bransten, 1950,
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415:Learn how and when to remove this message
1243:Deaths from diabetes in New York (state)
228:Relevant discussion may be found on the
114:play (and unproduced radio series), two
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649:Here's England, a Highly Informal Guide
771:Indiana, Birth Certificates, 1907-1940
66:Ruth McKenney Bransten (married name)
143:Ruth Marguerite McKenney was born in
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1053:The Ruth McKenny-Bruce Minton Report
1025:, Akron Women's History (uakron.edu)
651:(1951) with husband Richard Bransten
393:adding citations to reliable sources
336:, later republished in book form as
1268:20th-century American women writers
499:. The final script was written by
793:. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.
487:In 1945, McKenney and her husband
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93:with her sister Eileen McKenney.
1248:People from East Cleveland, Ohio
953:Rothstein, Mervyn (2003-12-21).
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221:relies largely or entirely on a
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177:at the Cleveland Union Station.
125:. It was also the basis for the
698:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
357:Adaptations of McKenney's works
184:from 1928 to 1931, majoring in
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1253:Journalists from New York City
16:American author and journalist
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657:(1952), the second sequel to
536:music was used). In 1960–61,
986:Darnton, Joan (1972-07-27).
427:McKenney's story collection
154:In 1919 her family moved to
345:In 1939 McKenney published
322:near Sheridan Square at 14
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1283:Writers from New York City
1233:American women journalists
728:The Saturday Evening Post
1155:My Friend Irma Goes West
81:Ruth Marguerite McKenney
33:Ruth Marguerite McKenney
55:New York City, New York
51:July 25, 1972 (aged 60)
1273:Writers from Cleveland
752:The Trouble with Women
622:The McKenneys Carry On
497:The McKenneys Carry On
1045:magazine's review of
1023:Ruth McKenney profile
906:Ruth McKenney, 1938,
893:Ruth McKenney, 1952,
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591:Books and other works
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182:Ohio State University
1278:Writers from Indiana
1142:(1947 radio/1952 TV)
637:The Loud Red Patrick
545:The Loud Red Patrick
389:improve this section
308:Akron Beacon Journal
234:improve this article
156:East Cleveland, Ohio
1228:American communists
576:Walt Disney Studios
992:The New York Times
959:The New York Times
919:Meade, pp. 171-186
665:Far, Far from Home
595:McKenney wrote 10
320:basement apartment
190:Ohio State Lantern
145:Mishawaka, Indiana
74:Author, journalist
40:Mishawaka, Indiana
1238:Communist writers
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603:books. They are:
512:In 1955 a second
474:Leonard Bernstein
464:, with lyrics by
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347:Industrial Valley
328:Greenwich Village
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759:References
740:New Masses
643:Love Story
561:Communists
482:Edie Adams
405:April 2016
324:Gay Street
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260:newspapers
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734:Holiday
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274:scholar
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1047:Mirage
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281:JSTOR
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112:radio
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