Maurine Dallas Watkins

Maurine Dallas Watkins was an American journalist and playwright who produced articles, reviews, short stories, plays and screenplays. In the 1920s, he followed the story of accused murderers Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan for the newspaper where he worked, the Chicago Tribune. His first play, Chicago, was inspired by the events that occurred with Gaertner and Annan and premiered in 1926 on Broadway. In 1927, it was adapted for film in a silent version produced by Cecil B. DeMille. In 1942, it served as the basis for the film Roxie Hart, starring Ginger Rogers. Watkins, since 1940, withdrew from public life, remaining so until his death. His most famous work returned to Broadway in 1975 in the form of a musical play and in 2002, it gave rise to the film that won the Oscar for best of the year 2002.