Ashton Stevens

Stevens was regarded the dean of American play reviewers and drama critics, and was friend and confidante of many prominent playwrights and stage performers.

"[3] An expert banjo player, Stevens defended its integrity as an instrument and wrote the Encyclopædia Britannica article on the subject.

In 1923 his book Actorviews: Intimate Portraits, a collection of his feature interviews illustrated by Gene Markey, was published by Covici-McGee.

Stevens wrote a number of plays, including Prospect Avenue[2] and, with Franklin D. Roosevelt's ghostwriter Charles Michaelson, a comedy titled Mary's Way Out.

[4]Stevens's first wife, Aleece Uhlorn, was a daughter of a San Francisco banker and the sister of novelist Gertrude Atherton.

In April 1906 Ashton Stevens (left) escorted actress Sarah Bernhardt through the ruins of San Francisco after the earthquake and fire
Photograph by Arnold Genthe