Biography

Leo Brady was born on January 23, 1917 in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. Leo was a writer, known for Studio One (1948), Edge of Doom (1950) and Rain for a Dusty Summer (1971). Leo died on November 18, 1984 in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.

Leo Brady studied drama at the Catholic University of America and soon became a faculty member there, serving from 1941 until his death in 1984. In addition to several novels, he wrote a number of plays and that were performed regionally, including the student play "Yankee Doodle Boy," co-written with Walter Kerr, which was an uncredited influence on the film "Yankee Doodle Dandy.". His Catholic background and his experience with priests at the university influenced his novel "Edge of Doom," which was adapted into a 1950 film.

Leo Brady's plays had some uncredited influence on two Hollywood films. In 1938, he adapted RIchard Connell's short story into the play "Brother Orchid." The adaptation was popular and is still licensed for professional and amateur productions by Samuel French. This popularity led Warner Bros. to buy the film rights to Connell's story and make its own film version in 1940 starring Edward G. Robinson. Brady received no film credit. Two years later, Brady and Walter Kerr, who became a popular playwright and stage critic as well as the husband of playwright Jean Kerr, wrote a play at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. based on the life of George M. Cohan titled "Yankee Doodle Boy." Cohan gave the young playwrights his consent and attended the premiere. The play attracted Hollywood's attention and demonstrated the richness of Cohan's life and works. Later scholars credit the play as having triggered the start of biographical musicals. Cohan and Kerr flew to Hollywood to pitch the story, but Warners, once again, bought the rights to Cohan's life directly and assigned its contract writers to pen an original screenplay. Brady and Kerr received no credit.