[1] According to Orr's obituary in the New York Times, "The Wisdom of Eve" was loosely based upon an unnamed woman who had been the secretary of Viennese actress Elisabeth Bergner.
[2] An alternative hypothesis to the Ruth Hirsch (later known as Martina Lawrence)-Elisabeth Bergner origin[3] was the rivalry between Tallulah Bankhead and Lizabeth Scott (her understudy) during the production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth.
[5][6] In 1964, Orr and her husband, director-playwright Reginald Denham, adapted the short story into a play of the same name, which was produced off-Broadway in 1979.
In 1970, a hit Broadway musical, Applause, was based on All About Eve and gave a credit to Mary Orr for the original story.
[1] In addition to Applause, Mary Orr and Reginald Denham had four plays that opened on Broadway.