William Brown Meloney VA notice in The New York Times of December 8, 1925, referred to him as William Brown Meloney 5th. (May 4, 1902– May 4, 1971) was a journalist, novelist, short-story writer and theatrical producer.
Biography He was born on May 4, 1902, in Pawling, New York, to William B. Meloney IV and Marie Mattingly Meloney."Mrs. W.B. Meloney, Noted Editor, Dies", The New York Times, June 24, 1943"Major W.B. Meloney Dies; Victim of War", The New York Times, December 8, 1925 Meloney studied at Columbia College, graduated in 1926, and lectured in English and comparative literature there. He was a fellow at the University of Paris in 1927–28.
He first became a lawyer and joined the law offices of William J. Donovan and managed his campaign for the Governor of New York in 1932. He later became a journalist like his parents.
In 1929 he had an affair with Priscilla Fansler Hobson, the future wife of Alger Hiss, who became pregnant with Meloney's child and then underwent an abortion.G. Edward White, Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars, New York: Oxford University Press (2004)
Meloney was married first to Elizabeth Ryder Symons of Saginaw, Michigan, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Shirley Symons,"Son Born to Mrs. W.B. Meloney", The New York Times, April 9, 1933 then to playwright and screenwriter Rose Franken.Sherilyn Brandenstein, "Rose Dorothy Lewin Franken", The Handbook of Texas Online He had two sons by his first wife: The first was William Brown Meloney VI (1931–2005) , and a second son born April 8, 1933.
In 1933, Meloney and Elizabeth were living in Pawling, New York, where he was editor of the Pawling Chronicle. He was also the local correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and The New York Times."The Press:Fortescue Fun", Time, September 10, 1934
In the mid-1930s, Meloney was writing motion picture scripts with Rose Dorothy Lewin Franken, and the two were married on April 27, 1937. By that time he had become a lawyer and was also an executive on This Week magazine, of which his mother was the editor. Meloney and Franken "relocated to Longmeadow, a working farm in Lyme, Connecticut, which, under their management, was adopted as a model of diversified farming by the local agricultural college at Storrs."Glenda Frank, "Rose Franken, 1895-1988", Jewish Women's Archive The two continued writing, "both individually and collaboratively, for magazines, including Harper's Bazaar and Collier's. They sometimes wrote together under the pseudonym Franken Meloney." (Some sources also ascribe the "Margaret Grant" pen-name to the couple.)
He died on May 4, at his home in Kent, Connecticut.
Books
In High Places, 1939Library of Congress Many Are the Travelers, 1954 Mooney, 1950
Broadway productions
Outrageous Fortune, November 3, 1943 – January 8, 1944 Doctor's Disagree, December 28, 1943 – January 15, 1944 Soldier's Wife, October 4, 1944 – May 12, 1945 The Hallams, March 4, 1948 – March 13, 1948Internet Broadway Database
Filmography Shared credit as writer
Beloved Enemy, 1936IMDb Claudia and David, 1946 The Secret Heart, 1946
References
External links Cover illustration of Meloney's book Mooney Eleanor Roosevelt has William Brown Meloney and Rose Franken over for dinner in July 1944