Patrick Dennis

Patrick Dennis (1921 – 1976) was an American author.

Related Topics:
1921 - 1976 - American - Author

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He was born Edward Everett Tanner III in Chicago. His best-known book, Auntie Mame, recalled his adventures growing up as the ward of his father's madcap sister. (Although Dennis claimed the work was autobiographical, in reality Tanner was raised by both his parents.) It was adapted into a Broadway play and musical (Mame), with a score by Jerry Herman), both of which were brought to the screen.

Related Topics:
Chicago - Auntie Mame - Broadway - Play - Musical - Mame - Jerry Herman

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Dennis also wrote Little Me, a spoof of tell-all Hollywood memoires that purported to be the life story of Belle Poitrine "as told to Patrick Dennis." Like Auntie Mame, Little Me served as the source of a Broadway musical, with a book by Neil Simon and a score by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh. Dennis was also the author of the novel House Party about a supposedly-wealthy family who were in fact dead broke; this book was the inspiration for the television sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton.

Related Topics:
Auntie Mame - Little Me - Neil Simon - Cy Coleman - Carolyn Leigh - Television - Sitcom - The Pruitts of Southampton

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Throughout his life, Dennis struggled with his attraction to men, however he did marry and father two children. In Dennis's later years he left writing to become a butler, a job that his friends report that he enjoyed.

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