F. Scott Fitzgerald
A&E Biography Notes
· Industrial Revolution: Modern Era
· Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald: Irish Catholic boy. Born in St. Paul, MN., September 24th 1896: aspired to be famous “ His parents pride and Joy.”- he did not want to fail at anything.
· Mom Molly sent F. Scott to a prep school. Her family was wealthy
· He was a gifted writer, even as a young boy.
· 1912 Football team, 16 yrs. old
· Acting, plays, and writing- he planned to be a writer
· 1913: Princeton- dreamt of being the big man on campus
· He wrote for the school’s magazine The Tiger and joined their theatrical group The Triangle Club, summer comedy “The Coward”
· He had too much fun in college- Drank a lot.
· Academic Probation at Princeton-Dropped out.
· Met a rich girl in college, Ginevra King- “ Poor boys don’t marry rich girls.”
· She represented “the golden girl” in his later novels.
· 1917: Enter WW1- Boot camp – 2nd lieutenant – stationed in Atlanta- Imagined he’d be a war hero.
· Met Zelda Sayre in Atlanta- Beautiful Woman, red hair “wild”, smoking, drinking, stunts, shocking elders, social and athletic.
· Nov.1918: Before he went to France, war ended.
· Proposed to Zelda- She said yes- he went to NYC to look for work, advertising job, wrote short stories, $35 a week- She called off the engagement.
· Scott went on a 3-week drinking binge, depressed
· Moved to parents spare room and worked 16 hours a day.
· His 1st book This Side of Paradise- September 1919 accepted by publishers and was a great success.
· March, 1920: His book sold out in one day.
· April 3rd: a week later- married Zelda, couple lived in hotels, partied a lot. Fitzgerald sold three stories for $1300.
· “The Jazz age”- they were a crazy party couple
· He moved around a lot- never lived in one place for longer then a year
· Oct 26, 1921: “Scottie” was born- only daughter.
· 1922: The Beautiful and Damned about a couple falling apart, 40,000 copies sold in first year.
· Drunken parties lasted for days, alcoholic and chaotic, lived in Long Island.
· Moved to Europe to work on The Great Gatsby
· Lived in Long Island. “Flappers & Philosophers” – collection of stories. Broadway play, “The Vegetables” was a flop. Fitzgeralds spent a lot of money.
· France in 1920’s – Americans “lost generation” living there to avoid Prohibition and live on easy life. French Riviera
· July, 1924: Worked on The Great Gatsby- he wrote many drafts - it was hard work for him.
· Zelda spent time at the beach, had an affair with a French aviator, Sept. 1924.
· 1925: Paris- The Great Gatsby didn’t sell as well as his first novel.
· Met Ernest Hemingway in France, in a bar. They became “drinking buddies” Rivalry in their friendship.
· October 29, 1929: Stock market crash brings an end to the high-flying “jazz age”- the 20’s were over.
· Zelda- wanted to become a Ballerina, exhausted, tried to steer car off cliff, schizophrenic.
· 4th book took 9 years and 17 revisions- Tender Is the Night- about a psychiatrist who married his patient. Didn’t sell. 1934
· Drinking a lot! Quart of gin, 30 bottles of beer per day.
· “The Crack-Up”: Published in magazine. Hurt his reputation. 1936
· 1936: New York Post- had article published about FSF
· offer from MGM- write screenplays in Hollywood. 1937 Fitzgerald tried to succeed as a screen writer
· Shirley Temple big star: Movies being made
· tried to curb his drinking.
· Sheilah Graham- girlfriend.
· Zelda in hospital in North Carolina –“Out of it”
· “Three Comrades”- movie Fitzgerald worked on, angry about revisions.
· 1st and last screen credit- released by MGM job.- Scrambled for work- went back to drinking – bad reputation in Hollywood.
· Sheilah and F. Scott had terrible fights
· 1939- The Last Tycoon he began to write - never finished.
· 44 yrs. Old- stopped drinking after a mild heart attack.
· Dec. 21, 1940: Collapsed, he had a massive heart attack and died.
· 1948: Fire killed Zelda in the Highland Hospital in Asheville, NC -she was 48 yrs. old
· 1950’s books rediscovered, he became famous, reputation continued to grow.
· U.S. stamp 1996 100th birthday.
· Over 300,000 copies of Gatsby sell each year.
· F. Scott Fitzgerald was a symbol of the Jazz Age
· The Great Gatsby was made into a film in 1974 with Robert Redford & Mia Farrow