Goetz, Ruth

Playwright, adapter and translator, Ruth Goodman Goetz was born January 12, 1912 in Philadelphia, the only child of Lily Cartun Goodman and Philip Goodman, a theatrical producer and writer. She grew up in New York City and was educated at P.S. 93 and later at Miss Marshall's Classes for Young Gentlewomen. She left Miss Marshall's at the age of 15 and attended school in Paris for two years, possibly at the Sorbonne. Mrs. Goetz studied scenic design with Norman Bel Geddes and worked as a costume and scenic designer. After a reversal in her family's finances, H. L. Mencken, a family friend, obtained a position for Ruth around 1930 with Blanche and Alfred A. Knopf in their publishing house. One source indicates she also read scripts for Samuel Goldwyn.

After Philip Goodman sold some properties to the movies, he and Ruth sailed for Europe on the DeGrasse. It was on this ship that she met a stockbroker named Augustus Otto Goetz. They were married on October 11, 1932. Soon after their marriage, Augustus Goetz gave up his Wall Street job to pursue a writing career. He and Ruth returned to Europe, living in boarding houses for a year and a half while attempting to write. After returning to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where they purchased a farmhouse in Keller's Church, they began to write seriously. Their third play, Franklin Street, a comedy based on Philip Goodman's recollections of his early life in Philadelphia, was produced at the National Theater, Washington, D.C. in September 1940. One Man Show, the Goetzes' next play, opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 8, 1945. In 1946, their only child, Judith, was born.

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