William Absalom Drake was born in
Dayton, Ohio, United States on December 9, 1899. This was followed by a translation of another German language play,
Bruno Frank's
12,000, which Drake penned for a production at the
Garrick Theatre in 1928. Drake adapted
Vicki Baum's
Grand Hotel into a play of the same name. It premiered at the
National Theatre on November 13, 1930. A hit, it ran for 459 performances; closing in December 1931. Drake subsequently adapted his play into the 1932 film
Grand Hotel which won the
Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was in turn the basis for the 1989 musical
Grand Hotel by playwright
Luther Davis and songwriters
Robert Wright and
George Forrest. Drake adapted another German-language play for Broadway,
Wilhelm Speyer's
Ein Mantel, ein Hut, ein Handschuh (English
A Hat, a Coat, a Glove), which was staged at the
Selwyn Theatre in 1934. His play was subsequently used as a basis for the 1934 film
Hat, Coat, and Glove. He also contributed to the English language libretto of
Kurt Weill's opera the
The Eternal Road which was initially written in German by Franz Werfel and translated by
Ludwig Lewisohn. Leisohn's English translation was further adapted and modified by Drake prior to the opera's world premiere in English at the
Manhattan Opera House on January 7, 1937. ==References==