Broadway composer William Zeffiro recorded this original song for the annual Dorothy Parker Society birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Parker

1926, Poem recorded by Dorothy Parker and provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Estate of Dorothy Parker/The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - Men

1925, Poem recorded by Dorothy Parker and provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Estate of Dorothy Parker/The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - Resume

1923, Poem recorded by Dorothy Parker and provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Estate of Dorothy Parker/The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - One Perfect Rose

1927, Poem recorded by Dorothy Parker and provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Estate of Dorothy Parker/The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - Partial Comfort

Dorothy Parker - Bohemia

1928, Poem recorded by Dorothy Parker and provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Estate of Dorothy Parker/The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - Coda

Dorothy Parker - The False Friends

Dorothy Parker - The Satin Dress

Dorothy Parker - A Fairly Sad Tale

Dorothy Parker - The Burned Child

Dorothy Parker - Recurrence

Dorothy Parker - Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom

Dorothy Parker - To Newcastle

Dorothy Parker - Plea

Dorothy Parker - The Red Dress

1930, Poem recorded by Dorothy Parker and provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Estate of Dorothy Parker/The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - The Little Old Lady in Lavender Silk

Dorothy Parker - The Veteran

Dorothy Parker - Parable for a Certain Virgin

Dorothy Parker - Story

1958 interview provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Dorothy Parker Society. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - 1958 interview

Playwright Arnaud d'Usseau, 1989 interview on meeting and working with Dorothy Parker on "The Ladies of the Corridor." (Low volume). Provided by the Dorothy Parker Society. Content ©2013 the Dorothy Parker Society. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be used for any commercial purposes. For more information, visit the Dorothy Parker Society, dorothyparker.com.

Dorothy Parker - Arnaud d'Usseau interview

Dorothy Parker interviewed by Richard Lamparski in March 1966 in her Manhattan apartment. Parker talks about her career and work, what she thinks of writers such as Truman Capote, and disavows her membership in the Algonquin Round Table. She is lively and animated for being 72 years old.

Dorothy Parker Interview

Dorothy Parker 1966 Interview

Dorothy Parker 1966

What will a couple talk about at closing time in a speakeasy? “Dialogue at Three in the Morning” was written by Dorothy Parker in 1926 for The New Yorker; it entered the public domain in the U.S. in 2022. The exclusive recording is by Kimberly M. Wetherell (voxkimberly.com). Recorded for the Dorothy Parker Society (dorothyparker.com). This audio was produced by Ink Drinker Media in association with The Dorothy Parker Society. Audio copyright  © 2022, Ink Drinker Media, All right reserved.

Dialogue at Three in the Morning - Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) was a writer, author, poet, screenwriter, and champion for social justice. The BBC Radio journalist Joanne Griffith interviewed Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, president of the Dorothy Parker Society, about the life and legacy of Parker on January 27, 2013, for BBC Radio 5 Live.

BBC Radio 5

Legacy of Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker (1893—1967) was a writer, author, poet, screenwriter, and champion for social justice. Her 1929 short story “Big Blonde” stands out as a favorite of fans, and of hers. The tale of Hazel Morse, a dissipated party girl and model, the novella was instantly popular. It earned the O. Henry Award for outstanding short story of the year. It is read by Lauren Bacall, notable New Yorker like Parker. Bacall (1924—2014) was a consummate actor. She is perhaps best known for her films To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and Murder on the Orient Express (1974). Bacall recorded this version of “Big Blonde” about 1994 when she was 60 years old.

Dorothy Parker

Lauren Bacall Reads Dorothy Parker's "Big Blonde"

George Oppenheimer recounts a story of a day with Dorothy Parker. Oppenheimer (1900-1977) was co-founder of Viking Press in 1925. He later went to Hollywood, where he worked at MGM as a script doctor. He was one of the 8 writers on A Day at the Races (1937). At the end of his career Oppenheimer returned to New York and was a Broadway theater critic. 

This was recorded in May 1976 in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California Library. 

To learn more, read The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide (Lyons Press) by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. All content copyright ©2014 Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. All Rights Reserved. For more information, visit algonquinroundtable.org.

George Oppenheimer on Dorothy Parker and the Dog Show

Actress-Director Lee Grant reads Dorothy Parker’s poem Chant For Dark Hours in May 1976. Grant won an Oscar for the comedy Shampoo (1975), for Best Supporting Actress. This was recorded in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California Library. 

To learn more, read The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide (Lyons Press) by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. Poem copyright ©2014 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All Rights Reserved. For more information, visit algonquinroundtable.org.

Dorothy Parker - Lee Grant Reads Chant For Dark Hours

The Tex and Jinx Show, recorded in the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room in 1952. Hosts Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg welcome Alan Jay Lerner, Anita Loos, hotel owner Ben Bodne, and newspaper columnist Harry Hershfield. 

To learn more, read The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide (Lyons Press) by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. All content copyright ©2014 Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. All Rights Reserved. For more information, visit algonquinroundtable.org.

1952 Algonquin Hotel Radio Show Tex & Jinx

Keep Your Rabbits Rabbi, We Have Rabbits of Our Own. (1920, Words: Franklin P. Adams. Music: Jerome Kern). 

This novelty song was written by Adams after he and Kern heard a story at the home of Rabbi Stephen Wise. It was recorded and performed by William Zeffiro (The Road to Ruin) in 2009 for the album Lost Broadway and More, Volume 1 (Footlight Records).

For more information, get The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide, from Lyons Press. By Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, with a foreword by Anthony Melchiorri. For more information, visit algonquinroundtable.org.


Keep Your Rabbits, Rabbi, We Have Rabbits of Our Own

Keep Your Rabbits Rabbi, We Have Rabbits of Our Own

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” with Robert Benchley. Recorded for CBS on Dec. 20, 1944. Based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber, this is the full radio dramatization. It comes from “This Is My Best” radio series. Thurber praised Benchley’s performance, and didn’t like the 1947 Danny Kaye musical comedy version. Mogul David Selznick approached Benchley in 1940 about making a short film based on the Mitty story that first appeared in The New Yorker, but it didn’t work out. Less than a year after this recording was made, Benchley died in New York. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is included in “Thurber Writings and Drawings” (Library of America series).

From The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide (Lyons Press, 2015), by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, with a foreword by Anthony Melchiorri. For more information, visit algonquinroundtable.org.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1944)

Fleischmann Yeast Hour, November 9, 1933
Rudy Vallée, Host
Jimmy Wallington, announcer
Guests (in order of appearance)
• Rudy Vallée performs “Dancing Lady” from the MGM picture of the same name.
• Richy Craig, Jr. (1902-1933) singer, dancer, and comedian. He wrote jokes for Bob Hope. Craig died two weeks after this performance of tuberculosis.
• “Orchids in the Moonlight” from the RKO film Flying Down to Rio (low volume)
• George Gershwin performs “Concerto in F”
• Alice Faye performs “Sittin’ Up Waiting For You”
• Richy  Craig, Jr. and Mildred Tully perform a scene from Say It Isn’t So
• Rudy Vallée performs “Flying Down to Rio”
• Kitty Carlisle (1910-2007) American singer, actress. With George Gershwin on piano she sings, “The Man I Love” (1924)
• Rudy Vallée performs Gershwin’s “This Love of Mine”
• George Gershwin medley; he performs “I Got Rhythm” From “Porgy and Bess”. Kitty Carlisle and Vallée duet on “Of Thee I Sing”
• Rudy Vallée performs “Everything I Have Is Yours” from MGM’s Dancing Lady
• Ring Lardner’s short story “The Love Nest” performed by Jean Dixon, Homer Barton, and Harold Vermilyea. Dixon (1896-1981) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in June Moon (1929) by George S. Kaufman and Lardner. Barton was on Broadway from 1921-1934. Vermilyea (1899-1958) made his Broadway debut in 1917.

Fleischmann Yeast Hour November 9, 1933

Fleischmann Yeast Hour 9 Nov 1933 Rudy Vallée George Gershwin

My name is Kevin C. Fitzpatrick and my work is tied to New York City history. I'm the president of the Dorothy Parker Society, and run dorothyparker.com. I have a background in publishing and television. 

I'm the author of A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York, Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide, and The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide. I edited Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway, 1918-1923, as well as The Lost Algonquin Round Table. 

In my spare time, I'm a licensed New York City Sightseeing Guide and have been leading walking tours for 20 years. I give tours of Manhattan, Governors Island, Cypress Hills National Cemetery, and Woodlawn Cemetery.

k72ndst

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