Robert Neilson Stephens (July 22, 1867 - January 20, 1906) was an American novelist and playwright. An Enemy to the King, both a play and a novel, was one of his best known works. An Enemy to the King was also adapted for the cinema under the same title, An Enemy to the King, in 1916.
Stephens was born in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania on July 22, 1867, to James Andrew and Rebecca (Neilson) Stephens. His father died when he was 9, and his mother then became a teacher. He graduated from the high school in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, then going on to employment at a printing office, followed by a book store and railroad office, until he was hired by the Philadelphia Press in December 1886. He was drama editor of that paper until 1893, and by that time had also published short stories in magazines.The History of A Magazine, Arthur's Home Magazine (October 1892), at p. 896 He subsequently became a theatrical agent in New York City and began writing plays. His first play, On the Bowery, featured famous bridge jumper Steve Brodie. On the Bowery and his other early plays were intended for popular consumption, not critical acclaim, in the hope he could produce more serious pieces in the future.Cohen, Octavus (18 May 1895). Drama for the Masses - New Plays Turned Out by the Author of 'On the Bowery', Roanoke Times, p. 3, col. 2-3
Stephens married Maude Helfenstein in 1889.The Cyclopedia of American Biography Vol. 7, p. 195-96 (1903) Long in ill health,Harkins, Edward Francis. Little pilgrimages among the men who have written famous books, p. 279-98 (1901) Stephens went to England in 1899, and died in Bournemouth, England, on January 20, 1906.Browne, Stephenson (27 January 1906). Boston Notes, The New York TimesHain, Harry Harrison. History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, p. 712-13 (1922)
Bibliography
Plays On the Bowery (1894) (concerning bridge jumper Steve Brodie)Briscoe, Johnson. The actors' birthday book, p. 167 (1907) The White Rat (1895) The Alderman (1895) A Girl Wanted (1896) An Enemy to the King (1896) (also published in book form in 1897) (E. H. Sothern and Virginia Harned had leading roles in the play)(2 September 1896). Mr. Sothern's New Play, The New York Times The Ragged Regiment (1898) Miss Elizabeth's Prisoner (1903) (with E. Lyall Swete), a Revolutionary War drama with William Faversham in a leading role.
Books The Life and Adventures of Steve Brodie (1894) An Enemy to the King (1897) The Continental Dragoon (1898) The Road to Paris (1898) A Gentleman Player (1899) Philip Winwood (1900) Captain Ravenshaw (1901) The Mystery of Murray Davenport (1903) The Bright Face of Danger (1904) (sequel to An Enemy to the King) The Flight of Georgiana (1905)(15 October 1905). Love and Peril, The New York Times Clementina's Highwayman (with George Hembert Westley) (1907) Tales from Bohemia (1908) (collection of previously written short stories) A Soldier of Valley Forge (with G.E. Theodore Roberts) (1911) The Sword of Bussy (with Herman Nickerson) (1912)Smith, Geoffrey D. American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography, p. 634-35 (1997)
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