Editing Humphrey Bogart (section)

=== First performances ===
Bogart returned home to find his father in poor health, his medical practice faltering, and much of the family's wealth lost in bad timber investments.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 28.</ref> His character and values developed separately from his family during his navy days, and he began to rebel. Bogart became a liberal who disliked pretension, phonies and snobs, sometimes defying conventional behavior and authority; he was also well-mannered, articulate, punctual, self-effacing and standoffish.<ref name=Meyers_p22,31>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|pp=22, 31.}}</ref> After his naval service, he worked as a shipper and a bond salesman,<ref name=Meyers_p23>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=23.}}</ref> joining the [[Coast Guard Reserve]].

[[File:Swifty Humphrey Bogart 1922 newspaper.png|thumb|left|325px|alt=Newspaper clipping|Bogart was praised in an October 15, 1922, newspaper review of the play ''Swifty'': "Humphrey Bogart as the erring young man, Tom Proctor, did an excellent bit of work in the main".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1922-10-17/ed-1/seq-8/|title=Chronicling America|website=[[New-York Tribune]]|date=October 17, 1922|via=''Historic American Newspapers'', [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>]]

Frank Kelly Rich writes that Bogart "dove headfirst into the Jazz Age lifestyle, always up for late night revels... When his meager wages were exhausted, he'd play [[chess]] against all comers in arcades for a dollar a match (he was a brilliant player) to fund his outings." Mike Doyle of [[Chess.com]] writes that "Before he made any money from acting, he would hustle players for dimes and quarters, playing in New York parks and at Coney Island."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bell |first=Steve |date=December 1, 2016 |title=Which Famous Actor Hustled Chess Games in New York City? |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/nyregion/humphrey-bogart-chess.html}}</ref> Bogart resumed his friendship with Bill Brady Jr. (whose father had show-business connections), and obtained an office job with [[William A. Brady]]'s new World Films company.<ref>Meyers 1997, pp. 24, 31.</ref> Although he wanted to try his hand at screenwriting, directing, and production, he excelled at none. Bogart was [[stage manager]] for Brady's daughter [[Alice Brady|Alice]]'s play ''A Ruined Lady''. He made his stage debut a few months later as a Japanese butler in Alice's 1921 play ''Drifting'' (nervously delivering one line of dialogue), and appeared in several of her subsequent plays.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, pp. 29–31.</ref>

Although Bogart had been raised to believe that acting was a lowly profession, he liked the late hours actors kept and the attention they received: "I was born to be indolent and this was the softest of rackets."<ref name=Meyers_p23 /> He spent much of his free time in [[speakeasies]], drinking heavily. A bar-room brawl at this time was also a purported cause of Bogart's lip damage, dovetailing with Louise Brooks' account.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 35.</ref>

Preferring to learn by doing, he never took acting lessons. Bogart was persistent and worked steadily at his craft, appearing in at least 18 Broadway productions between 1922 and 1935, 11 of which were comedies.<ref>{{IBDB name|id=32377}}.</ref> He played juveniles or romantic supporting roles in drawing-room comedies and is reportedly the first actor to say, "[[Tennis, anyone?]]" on stage.<ref name=Meyers_p28>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=28.}}</ref> According to [[Alexander Woollcott]], Bogart "is what is usually and mercifully described as inadequate."<ref>''Time Magazine,'' June 7, 1954.</ref> Other critics were kinder. [[Heywood Broun]], reviewing ''Nerves'', wrote: "Humphrey Bogart gives the most effective performance&nbsp;... both dry and fresh, if that be possible".<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 33.</ref> He played a juvenile lead (reporter Gregory Brown) in [[Lynn Starling]]'s comedy ''[[Meet the Wife (play)|Meet the Wife]]'', which had a successful 232-performance run at the [[Klaw Theatre]] from November 1923 through July 1924. Bogart disliked his trivial, effeminate early-career parts, calling them "White Pants Willie" roles.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-d-x9_VhoEgC&pg=PA32|title=Hollywood Myths: The Shocking Truths Behind Film's Most Incredible Secrets and Scandals|last=Williams|first=Joe|date=October 15, 2012|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=978-0-7603-4241-1|language=en|pages=32–34}}</ref>

While playing a double role in ''Drifting'' at the Playhouse Theatre in 1922, he met actress [[Helen Menken]]; they were married on May 20, 1926, at the [[Gramercy Park Hotel]] in New York City. Divorced on November 18, 1927, they remained friends.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 36.</ref> Menken said in her divorce filing that Bogart valued his career more than marriage, citing neglect and abuse.<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Actress Seeks Divorce |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1927-11-12/ed-1/seq-22/ |work=[[The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)|The Evening Star]] |location=Washington, DC |date=December 12, 1927 |access-date=February 4, 2018|via=''Historic American Newspapers'', [[Library of Congress]] }}</ref> He married actress [[Mary Philips]] on April 3, 1928, at her mother's apartment in [[Hartford, Connecticut]]; Bogart and Philips had worked together in the play ''Nerves'' during its brief run at the Comedy Theatre in 1924.

Theatrical production dropped off sharply after the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]], and many of the more-photogenic actors headed for Hollywood. Bogart debuted on film with [[Helen Hayes]] in the 1928 two-reeler ''[[The Dancing Town]]'', which survives intact.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://search.library.ucla.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma99299013506533&context=L&vid=01UCS_LAL:UCLA&lang=en&search_scope=FTVA&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=FTVA_slot&query=title,contains,Dancing%20Town,AND&mode=advanced&offset=0 |title=The dancing town / Daniel Frohman presents ; Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. ; produced by Eugene Spitz ; directed by Edmund Lawrence ; scenario by Adeline Leitzbach. |publisher=[[UCLA Film and Television Archive]]}}</ref> He also appeared with [[Joan Blondell]] and [[Ruth Etting]] in a [[Vitaphone]] short, ''[[Broadway's Like That]]'' (1930), which was rediscovered in 1963.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, pp. 39–39.</ref>