Bayard Veiller (January 2, 1869 – January 16, 1943) was an American playwright, screenwriter, producer and film director. He wrote for 32 films between 1915 and 1941.
Biography
He was born on January 2, 1869, in Brooklyn, New York to Philip Bayard Veiller. He was married to English actress Margaret Wycherly from 1901 to 1922; their son, Anthony Veiller, was also a screenwriter.
Veiller first broke into Broadway theatre with The Primrose Path (1907), a play that he wrote and produced. It was a failure and left him broke, although it later served as the basis for the 1920 film, Burnt Wings. His first success as a playwright was Within the Law, a hit on Broadway in 1912-1913. It was later adapted as a movie five times. Veiller continued to write plays as he began screenwriting. His later Broadway hits included The Thirteenth Chair and The Trial of Mary Dugan, which were adapted as films. The play The Thirteenth Chair had been licensed for production in Britain in 1917.
Veiller wrote an autobiography, The Fun I've Had, published in 1941 by Reynal and Hitchcock. He died on January 16, 1943, in New York City at age 74.