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from the issue of December 6, 2007
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From the Archives - John Frederick (Fred) Ballard
John Frederick (Fred) Ballard was born in Grafton, Neb., in 1884 and moved with his parents to Havelock, Neb., in 1891. Ballard attended the University of Nebraska and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1905 and a Master's degree in 1907. After college he moved to Chicago on the advice of playwright Charles Klein, to work in theaters and study the theater industry in order to become a playwright.
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| | | STANDOFF - Mary Young points a gun at John Barrymore and Frank Campeau in this image from J. Frederick Ballard's play "Believe Me, Xantippe," performed in 1913 at the Comedy Theatre in New York City.
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Ballard's experience in Chicago gave him an idea of how successful plays were written, acted, and produced. Shortly thereafter he wrote "Believe Me, Xantippe", a play that won the John Craig Harvard Prize and would eventually star actor John Barrymore on Broadway and become a motion picture.
Ballard also earned another Master's degree from Harvard. He continued to write plays and many eventually became movies. Some of his more successful plays were: "Believe me, Xantippe", "Young America", "Ladies of the Jury", "What's Wrong", "We, the People", "A Rainy Day", "Out of Luck", "The Cyclone Lover", and "Dollars and Chickens."
"From the Archives" is a regular feature of the Scarlet. Image provided by the University Archives. Submit items to tfedderson2@unl.edu or 472-8515.
GO TO: ISSUE OF DECEMBER 6
HISTORY HEADLINES FOR DECEMBER 6
From the Archives - John Frederick (Fred) Ballard
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