C. Haddon Chambers

Playwright and journalist Charles Haddon Chambers was born in Sydney, Australia, on April 22, 1860, to Irish immigrants. After graduating from school he took a government job with the New South Wales Civil Service, but left after a few years to be a stockrider in the outback. At age 22 he left Australia for London, England, to try his hand at journalism. He also began writing plays, and it wasn't long before a comedy he wrote, "Captain Swift", was produced by Sir Beerbohm Tree at the Haymarket Theatre in 1888, and it was a hit. In 1890 another of his plays, "The Idler", was produced on Broadway in New York. Several of his plays were turned into films. During World War I he worked for the British government turning out propaganda. He died of a stroke in London in 1921.