Jean Webster

Daddy Long Legs Jean Webster

Jean Webster's own adaptation of her now classic novel was the much talked about Broadway hit of 1914. Her story "Daddy Long Legs" was originally published as a serial in the Ladies' Home Journal and when the play opened in September, 1914 it was a bonafide hit with the New York Times rave review calling it "brilliant" "delightful" "pathetic." The play followed closely Webster's original novel. Judy, the orphan in blue gingham, has been kept at the orphan asylum until she is 18 as an unpaid governess and her fortunes are turned when a mysterious benefactor, a Trustee of the orphanage, sends Judy to college. Before transferring to Broadway, the play had a long and prosperous run in Chicago, and after its lengthy Broadway production, the play toured extensive throughout the United States.