Philip Dunning

Philip Hart Dunning (December 11, 1889 – July 20, 1968) was a playwright, theatrical producer, and Broadway performer born in Meridien, Connecticut. His career in entertainment began at age 12, when he worked as an extra and as a carnival magician, laying the groundwork for a professional life that would span several decades in theater, film, and military service.

Dunning's Broadway performing career ran from 1914 to 1923 and included appearances in productions such as Broadway Boy, Get Me in the Movies, Kill That Story, and Lilly Turner. During World War I he enlisted in the Navy, and was assigned to the SS George Washington when President Woodrow Wilson traveled to Europe. In that capacity, Dunning was responsible for keeping the President's party, officers, and crew entertained. Among his shipboard productions was a farce titled Uncle Tom's Stateroom, which President Wilson enjoyed sufficiently to sign his program as a memento for Dunning. One of the acts developed during that period, Every Sailor, subsequently ran for 65 consecutive weeks in vaudeville following the war.

As a writer, Dunning collaborated with George Abbott on Broadway, which became one of the most successful plays of the 1920s. He and Abbott also produced Twentieth Century, the satire on the theater written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Dunning later worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter for Darryl Zanuck. During World War II he again served in the Navy, producing the all-Navy show Biff! Bang!, which also appeared among his Broadway credits.

Dunning died on July 20, 1968, of a myocardial infarction while being transported to Norwalk Hospital, following a swim with his wife at Compo Beach in Westport, Connecticut. He is interred at Assumption Cemetery in Westport. His papers, spanning 1912 to 1968, are held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.