John B. Hymer

John Bard Hymer (December 19, 1875 – 1953) was an American playwright, actor, and book writer born in Kentucky whose career spanned Broadway, touring stock companies, vaudeville, and film adaptation. He began acting at age 14 and went on to become a recognized figure in American theater, with credits as both a performer and a dramatist across several decades.

Hymer made his Broadway acting debut in 1906 with a role in The Clansman. His blackface vaudeville and stage performances became a notable part of his early career, and around 1912 he appeared in 'Ostler Joe. He operated his own touring stock company, John B. Hymer and Co., through which he brought productions to audiences across the country, including a 1920 staging of Tom Walker in Dixie in Sacramento, California. That production was part of a broader series of Tom Walker plays that also included The Devil and Tom Walker and Tom Walker on Mars.

Much of Hymer's work as a playwright was collaborative. He partnered frequently with Samuel Shipman, producing East Is West in 1918, a play that was adapted to film twice, in 1922 and again in 1930. Their collaborations also included Crime, which reached Broadway in 1927, and Scarlet Pages, staged in 1929, which was likewise adapted to film in 1930. Hymer also worked with LeRoy Clemens on Aloma of the South Seas, which opened on Broadway in 1925 and was reviewed by The Harvard Crimson that same year. The play was subsequently adapted to film in 1926 and again in 1941. Additional collaborations with Clemens included Alias the Deacon, which appeared on Broadway in 1925 and reached the screen in 1927, and Fast Life, which opened on Broadway in 1928 and was adapted to film in 1929 with Shipman as co-writer.

His Broadway credits as a performer and book writer further included A Lady Detained in 1935 and Happy Landing in 1932. The database also lists The Deacon among his Broadway credits, corresponding to the Alias the Deacon production.

Hymer was a prominent member of the Lakewood Theatre Colony in Maine, a connection that had roots in his childhood, when his family spent summers in the state. The Colony House at Lakewood was constructed in 1929 specifically for him. His wife, Eleanor Kent, was also an actress, and the couple had two children. Their son Warren Hymer pursued a career as a film actor. John B. Hymer died of muscular dystrophy in 1953 in Los Angeles.