Hadley Waters

The son of Theodore Waters, Theodore "Theo" Hadley Waters was born in New York City on 26 December 1896.^[2][3] He had two brothers and two sisters.^[1] He lived in Bushwick, Brooklyn and attended New York City Public Schools.^[4] He was educated at PS 44 at Throop Avenue and Madison Street in Brooklyn.^[4]

In his early career Waters penned the vaudeville sketches Their Chance (1917)^[5] and Chapter 46, Page 266 (1919)^[6] In 1920 Photoplay Magazine acknowledged his success as a young playwright at the age of 23.^[7] He worked as a display manager for Avedon, and contributed an article on display design for retail stores that was published in Advertising and Selling magazine in 1921.^[8] In 1922 two of his plays were allegedly accepted for production by A. H. Woods, Clay and A Match for Three.^[9] His play Just a Dash of Arsenic was staged in Cleveland in 1927 with a cast that included Roland Bottomley and Ernita Lascelles.^[10] With Katherine Haviland Taylor he co-authored the play The Taming of the Crew (1928).^[11] He had previously adapted Taylor's short story "Mrs. Upton Has Her Fling" into the play Good Gracious, Mother (1922).^[12][9]

Waters co-wrote the play Little Orchid Annie with Charles Beahan.^[1] It was given its premiere on April 4, 1929 at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles with Ruth Taylor in the title role.^[13][14] It was subsequently staged on Broadway at the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre in 1930.^[15] His play The Ghost Parade premiered on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre on October 28, 1929.^[16][15] His play Matrimonial Madness premiered at a theatre in Eerie, Pennsylvania in 1930.^[17] Other plays penned by Waters included Oh Woman, Woman,^[18] She Cried for the Moon,^[19] Crackers in Bed,^[20] and Ballyhoo.^[21]

Waters died on 13 November 1964 at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City at the age of 67.^[1][22] He had entered the hospital three weeks earlier after sustaining injuries from a fall at his home at 258 West 22d Street.^[23]