From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Philip Van Doren Stern
Philip Van Doren Stern
Philip Van Doren Stern (September 10, 1900 – July 31, Grant, who was interested in playing the lead role. RKO
1984) was an author, editor, and Civil War historian purchased the motion picture rights for $10,000 in April
whose story "The Greatest Gift," published in 1943, in- 1944.[1] After several screenwriters worked on adapta-
spired the classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life tions, RKO sold the rights to the story in 1945 to Frank
(1946). Capra’s production company for the same $10,000, which
Philip Van Doren Stern he adapted into It’s a Wonderful Life.
The story was first published as a book in December
Born September 10, 1900(1900-09-10) 1944, with illustrations by Rafaello Busoni. Stern also sold
Bradford County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
it to Reader’s Scope magazine, which published the story
Died July 31, 1984(1984-07-31) (aged 83) in its December 1944 issue, and to the magazine Good
Sarasota, Florida, U.S. Housekeeping, which published it under the title "The Man
Occupation author, editor, and Civil War historian Who Was Never Born" in its January 1945 issue (pub-
lished in December 1944).
In 1946, director Frank Capra produced the movie
Early life It’s a Wonderful Life, based on the Stern short story "The
Greatest Gift". The movie starred James Stewart, Donna
Philip Van Doren Stern was born in Wyalusing, Pennsyl-
Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. The movie was nominated
vania into a family of humble means. His Pennsylvania-
for five Academy Awards and would become a perennial
born father was a traveling merchant of Bavarian de-
Christmas classic.
scent, who came to Wyalusing from West Virginia with
Stern edited, compiled, and introduced The Viking
his New Jersey-born wife. Stern grew up in Brooklyn,
Portable Poe in 1945, a compact collection of letters, short
New York and New Jersey, and graduated from Rutgers
stories, poems, and essays by Edgar Allan Poe. Stern
University before becoming an author of some 40 books
wrote the biographical introduction to the collection, se-
and editor most known for his books on the Civil War
lected the contents included, and wrote introductory es-
that a New York Times obituary called "authoritative" and
says on the varying genres. The collection became a stan-
"widely respected by scholars".
dard single-volume anthology of Poe’s works for almost
fifty years.
Career Stern died on July 31, 1984 at the age of 83. The movie
Philip Van Doren Stern was a historian and editor who It’s a Wonderful Life, based on his short story "The Greatest
compiled and annotated short story collections and the Gift", became a holiday classic that is one of the most
writings and letters of Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allan Poe, popular and most viewed of all Christmas films.
and Henry David Thoreau.
After graduating from Rutgers in 1924, he worked in Major works
advertising before switching to a career as a designer and
• An End to Valor: The Last Days of the Civil War, 1958
editor in publishing.
• The Case of The Thing in the Brook, a mystery under the
During World War II, he was a member of the plan-
pseudonym Peter Storme, 1941
ning board of the United States Office of War Informa-
• Prehistoric Europe: From Stone Age Man to the Early
tion. He was the general manager of Editions for the
Greeks
Armed Services. He compiled and edited many collec-
• A Pictorial History of the American Automobile, 1903-1953
tions and anthologies of short stories, pictorial books, an-
• Edgar Allan Poe, Visitor from the Night of Time, 1973
notations, and books on historical subjects.
• When the Guns Roared, 1965
Stern is most remembered today for a short story that
• They Were There, 1959
he wrote in 1943. Inspired by a dream, Stern published a
• Soldier Life in the Union and Confederate Armies, 1961
4,000-word short story called "The Greatest Gift" in 1943
• Henry David Thoreau: Writer and Rebel, 1972
after working on it since the late 1930s but, unable to
• The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
find a publisher, he sent the 200 copies he had print-
• Secret Missions of the Civil War
ed to friends as Christmas cards in December 1943. One
of the pamphlets came to the attention of RKO Pictures
producer David Hempstead, who showed it to actor Cary
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Philip Van Doren Stern
• The Man Who Killed Lincoln: The Story of John Wilkes • The New York Times Biographical Service. Volume
Booth, 1939, dramatized and staged in New York in 15. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms
1940 International, 1984.
• The Annotated Walden: Walden; or, Life in the Woods by • Twentieth Century Authors. First Supplement. New
Henry David Thoreau York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1955.
• The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe: or, • Who Was Who among English and European
How the Confederate Cruisers Were Equipped, with James Authors, 1931-1949. Detroit: Gale Research, 1978.
D. Bulloch
• The Annotated Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1964
• Robert E. Lee, The Man and the Soldier; A Pictorial
Biography
External links
• The Confederate Navy: A Pictorial History • Philip Van Doren Stern at the IMDb
• "The Greatest Gift", 1943 short story which was the • A photograph of Philip Van Doren Stern:
basis for Frank Capra’s classic film It’s a Wonderful Life http://www.all-story.com/pix.cgi?t=a&iid=22
(1946) Persondata
• Tin Lizzie : The Story of the Fabulous Model T Ford Name Stern, Philip Van Doren
• The Portable Poe, 1945, edited, selected and with an
introduction and notes by Stern Alternative
names
Short description
References
Date of birth September 10, 1900
[1] "Tempest in Hollywood," New York Times, April 23,
Place of birth Bradford County, Pennsylvania,
1944, p. X3.
U.S.
Date of death January 29, 1984
Further reading Place of death Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
• Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Volume fr:Philip Van Doren Stern
86. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. hy:????? ??? ????? ?????
• Directory of American Scholars. Seventh edition,
Volume 1: History. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1978.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philip_Van_Doren_Stern&oldid=467754606"
Categories:
• 1900 births
• 1984 deaths
• People from Wyalusing, Pennsylvania
• American people of German descent
• Rutgers University alumni
• Historians of the American Civil War
• Historians of the United States
• Writers from New York City
• Writers from New Jersey
• Writers from Pennsylvania
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