Editing My Sister Eileen

{{Short description|Story by Ruth McKenney}}
{{Italic title}}
{{About|the short stories and book|other adaptations|My Sister Eileen (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
[[File:My Sister Eileen.jpg|thumb|First edition (publ. [[Harcourt Brace]])]]

'''''My Sister Eileen''''' is a series of autobiographical short stories by [[Ruth McKenney]], originally published in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a [[My Sister Eileen (play)|play]], a [[Wonderful Town|musical]], a radio play (and an unproduced radio series), two motion pictures, and a [[CBS]] [[My Sister Eileen (TV series)|television series]] in the [[1960–61 United States network television schedule|1960–1961 season]].

The stories center on two sisters from [[Ohio]] who are out to make successful careers while living in a [[basement apartment]] in the [[Greenwich Village]] section of New York City. Older, sensible Ruth Sherwood aspires to be a writer, while Eileen dreams of success on the stage. A variety of oddball characters bring color and humor to their lives.

== Adaptations ==

===1940 play===
The stories were [[My Sister Eileen (play)|adapted for the stage]] by [[Joseph Fields]] and [[Jerome Chodorov]]. The [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production, directed by [[George S. Kaufman]], opened on December 26, 1940 at the [[Samuel J. Friedman Theatre|Biltmore Theatre]] and moved three times before finally completing its run of 864 performances on January 16, 1943. The opening night cast included [[Shirley Booth]] as Ruth Sherwood and [[Jo Ann Sayers]] as Eileen Sherwood, with [[Richard Quine]] and [[Morris Carnovsky]] in supporting roles.

Eileen McKenney, the inspiration for the title character, and her husband, novelist and screenwriter [[Nathanael West]], were killed in a car accident in Southern California four days before the Broadway opening.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/reference/theatre_info/2151.html |title=Playbill: Theatre information |accessdate=2006-03-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412000414/http://www.playbill.com/reference/theatre_info/2151.html |archivedate=2006-04-12 }} ''Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (Broadway)</ref>

===1942 film===
Fields and Chodorov [[My Sister Eileen (1942 film)|adapted their play for a 1942 film]] released by [[Columbia Pictures]] (their biggest hit of 1942/19433). [[Alexander Hall]] directed a cast that includes [[Rosalind Russell]] as Ruth (in an [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Academy Award]]–nominated performance<ref name=Oscars>[http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/Search/Nominations?filmId=1171&view=2-Film%20Title-Alpha ''My Sister Eileen'' (1942)] at Oscar.org</ref>) and [[Janet Blair]] as Eileen, with [[Brian Aherne]], [[George Tobias]], [[Allyn Joslyn]], [[Elizabeth Patterson (actress)|Elizabeth Patterson]], [[Grant Mitchell (actor)|Grant Mitchell]], [[Jeff Donnell]], and [[Richard Quine]] in supporting roles.

===1946 radio play and unproduced radio series===
On May 18, 1946 Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair reprised their roles in a half-hour radio adaptation of the 1942 film for the [[CBS Radio]] [[anthology series]] ''[[Academy Award Theater]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OtlOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6822%2C3178309&q=Award+Rosalind+Russell+Janet+Blair+My+Sister |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Saturday's Selections (9:45 p.m.) |newspaper=The Toledo Blade (Ohio) |date=1946-05-18 |accessdate=2018-06-29 }}</ref> During the closing credits show announcer Hugh Brundage stated that a radio series based on the two main characters was being prepared by writer Arthur Kurlan. He added that it would star [[Lucille Ball]] and it would premiere in the fall. However CBS ultimately turned down the proposed series after only a sample audition record was made.<ref name="lawsuit">[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/343/625/109470/ Arthur KURLAN and Marilyn Kurlan, Petitioners, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Petitioner, v. Arthur KURLAN and Marilyn Kurlan, Respondents.]</ref>

In 1947 CBS began airing a new radio series, ''[[My Friend Irma (radio-TV)|My Friend Irma]]'', which contained the same basic premise and characterizations. In response, Arthur Kurlan sued CBS on behalf of himself and Ruth McKenney, ultimately winning compensation from CBS.<ref name="lawsuit"/>

===1953 Broadway musical===
''[[Wonderful Town]]'', with lyrics by [[Betty Comden]] and [[Adolph Green]], music by [[Leonard Bernstein]], and book by Fields and Chodorov, is a musical stage adaptation of the 1940 play, which was in turn based on McKenney's stories. Rosalind Russell reprised the part of Ruth for the Broadway production and appeared in a [[CBS]] broadcast of the musical on November 30, 1958.<ref name="Reading Eagle 1">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4BErAAAAIBAJ&pg=5121%2C7617314&q=comedy+starring |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Sunday|page=2 (TV Program Preview section) |newspaper=The Reading Eagle |date=1958-11-30 |access-date=2023-04-07 }}</ref> It was revived on Broadway, starring [[Donna Murphy]], in 2004.

===1955 film===
In 1955, Columbia [[My Sister Eileen (1955 film)|made a film]] as a [[musical comedy]] with a score by [[Jule Styne]] and [[Leo Robin]]. Richard Quine and [[Blake Edwards]] wrote the screenplay, and Quine directed. The cast includes [[Betty Garrett]] as Ruth and [[Janet Leigh]] as Eileen, with [[Jack Lemmon]], [[Bob Fosse]] (who [[choreographed]] the musical numbers), [[Kurt Kasznar]], [[Dick York]], [[Arnold Stang]], and [[Tommy Rall]] in supporting roles.

===1960–1961 television series===
A [[television pilot|pilot]] for a [[television series]] based on the short stories and subsequent film adaptations aired on [[NBC]] as an episode of ''[[Alcoa Theatre|Alcoa-Goodyear Theater]]'' titled "You Should Meet My Sister" on May 16, 1960, starring [[Elaine Stritch]] as Ruth and [[Anne Helm]] as Eileen.<ref name="Reading Eagle 2">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vo0jAAAAIBAJ&pg=2235%2C1457233&q=You+Should+Meet+Sister+Elleen+Elaine+Stricth+portrays |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=TV Highlights for Tonight |page=19 |newspaper=The Reading Eagle |date=1960-05-16 |access-date=2023-04-07 }}</ref> Twenty-six more episodes were produced with Stritch as Ruth and [[Shirley Bonne]] portraying Eileen, and [[CBS]] broadcast these in the [[United States]] during the [[1960–61 United States network television schedule|1960–1961 season]] as the [[Sitcom|situation comedy]] ''[[My Sister Eileen (TV series)|My Sister Eileen]]''. The series premiered on October 5, 1960. It was canceled after one season, and last aired on April 12, 1961.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{ibdb title|id=1047|title=My Sister Eileen}} (1940 play)
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q1580904|title=My Sister Eileen}} (1942 film)
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q2754849|title=My Sister Eileen}} (1955 film)
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q129105044|title=My Sister Eileen}} (1958 TV special)
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q6946389|title=My Sister Eileen}} (TV series)

{{My Sister Eileen}}
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[[Category:1938 short story collections]]
[[Category:American short story collections]]
[[Category:Works originally published in The New Yorker]]
[[Category:Harcourt (publisher) books]]