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Myron Coureval Fagan

American writer (1887–1972)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ3331614 ↗
Source-derived summary

Myron Coureval Fagan (October 31, 1887 – May 12, 1972) was an American writer, producer and director for film and theatre and a Red Scare figure in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Career

Fagan arrived on Broadway in 1907, where he quickly became one of the younger playwrights in American theater. Over the years, he worked in the theater with Alla Nazimova, Douglas Fairbanks, and John Barrymore. He also directed plays for the producers such as Charles Frohman, David Belasco. Fagan also became the dramatic editor of the Associated Newspapers. Many of the actors, including Humphrey Bogart, Brian Donlevy and Robert Ryan, whom Fagan directed or who appeared in his plays or screen adaptions, later became stars in Hollywood.

In 1916, Fagan took a break from the theater to serve as director of public relations for Republican presidential candidate Charles Evans Hughes. When a similar offer was made in 1928 to him by Herbert Hoover, he turned it down.

In 1929, the sound movie of his play The Great Power earned the dubious record of being the shortest run of any movie at the Capitol Theatre, New York. It was replaced with a silent comedy film after only one performance.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Myron Coureval Fagan” is american writer (1887–1972). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Myron, Coureval and Fagan, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1887, 1972, 1907, 1916—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1887-10-31. For this dossier, Myron, Coureval and Fagan is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american writer (1887–1972)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3331614. VIAF identifies the subject as 66025605. The Library of Congress control number is no89005877. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1972, 1907 and 1916.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Myron Coureval Fagan”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Myron Coureval Fagan primary sources, Myron Coureval Fagan archive and Myron research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Myron Coureval Fagan”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Myron Coureval Fagan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.