Clemence Dane
| Winifred Ashton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 21 February 1888 Blackheath, England |
| Died | 28 March 1965 (aged 77) London, England |
| Pen name | Clemence Dane |
| Occupation | Novelist, playwright |
| Notable works | Regiment of Women (1917) |
Clemence Dane was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), an English novelist and playwright.
After completing her education, she went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor, but returned home after a year. She studied art in London and Germany. After the First World War, she taught at a girls' school, and began writing. She took the pseudonym "Clemence Dane" from the church, St Clement Danes on the Strand, London.
Her first novel Regiment of Women was written in 1917, a study of life in a girls' school. In 1919 she wrote Legend, the story of a group of acquaintances who debate the meaning of a dead friend's life and work. Dane's 1921 play, A Bill of Divorcement, tells the story of a daughter who cares for her deranged father. In 1932 the smash hit play was adapted for film starring Katharine Hepburn and John Barrymore. Dane began writing screenplays as well as novels. She co-wrote the screenplay for Anna Karenina starring Greta Garbo. The pinnacle of Dane's success was winning an Academy Award with Anthony Pelissier for Vacation from Marriage, released in the United Kingdom as Perfect Strangers, starring Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr.
Dane and Helen de Guerry Simpson wrote three detective novels featuring their creation Sir John Saumarez. Both were members of the Detection Club. The first, Enter Sir John, was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1930 as Murder!. Dane contributed to the Club's serials The Scoop and The Floating Admiral.
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