Sunrise at Campobello (play)

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Sunrise at Campobello is a 1958 play by American producer and writer Dore Schary based on U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's struggle with polio. The film version was released in 1960.

Schary obtained the rights to the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1957.^[1] The original Broadway production was presented at the Cort Theatre by The Theatre Guild and Dore Schary and directed by Smajo Salcin. It opened on January 30, 1958, and closed on May 30, 1959, running for 556 performances.^[2]

The play starred Ralph Bellamy as Roosevelt. Others in the cast included Henry Jones as Louis Howe, Mary Fickett as Eleanor Roosevelt; Anne Seymour as Sara Delano Roosevelt and, in his Broadway debut, James Earl Jones. Bellamy repeated his role in the film version of the play.^[2]

Campobello Island was Roosevelt's summer home in New Brunswick, Canada. Early scenes in the play's actions take place there, where we see Roosevelt afflicted with paralysis of his legs, before the play's story shifts to Roosevelt's home in New York City, where he struggles to overcome the paralysis. The play ends with the 1924 Democratic National Convention speech, which catapulted him back into politics after an absence of several years.

The Scenic and Lighting Design were by Ralph Alswang; the costumes by Virginia Volland.^[2]

Alan Clymer, writing for The Harvard Crimson, noted strong performances by the cast: "Ralph Bellamy portrays Roosevelt with exceptional skill ... Moreover, he not only resembles F.D.R. physically, he has also caught the essence of the Roosevelt voice that excited the country."^[3]

The production won several Tonys, including Best Play (producers were Lawrence Langner, Theresa Helburn, Armina Marshall and Dore Schary) and Best Director of a Play (Smajo Salcin). Bellamy won a Tony Award for Best Actor. Henry Jones won Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award for Performance in a Drama. Mary Fickett was nominated for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play.^[4]

Ralph Bellamy stars in the 1960 film adaptation of Sunrise at Campobello, released by Warner Bros. Dore Schary, who began his career in Hollywood, wrote and produced the film, which, like the stage version, was directed by Smajo Salcin. Greer Garson co-stars as Eleanor, with Hume Cronyn as Louis Howe. The role of Sara Delano Roosevelt, FDR's mother, is played by Ann Shoemaker, who succeeded Anne Seymour in the role in the original Broadway production.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness

Awards

• 1958 Tony Award for Best Play
• 1958 Tony Award for Best Actor in Play - Ralph Bellamy
• 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play - Henry Jones
• 1958 Tony Award for Best Director - Smajo Salcin

Nominations

• 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play - Mary Fickett

• Theater stills, Museum of the City of New York
• ​Sunrise at Campobello​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sunrise at Campobello (film) at IMDb