American newspaperman who briefly wrote titles for silent films. A native of New York State, Conway was raised by his mother, a schoolteacher, in The Bronx, New York. As a boy, he worked as a streetcar conductor. He had a short career in baseball, playing with the Brooklyn Federals. A friend who worked as an office boy for the entertainment trade paper Variety got Conway a job. A failure in his first position as advertising salesman, Conway was given an opportunity to review vaudeville shows. He seemed destined to fail in this as well, until he turned in a review written almost entirely in slang. The notion caught on and Conway used slang for all his future reviews in the paper, which became famous for its Variety-ese. Conway became a beloved figure on Broadway and in sports circles, writing not only reviews but features and columns on nightlife, baseball, and boxing. His reputation as a humorist and slang-artist was unsurpassed on the Great White Way. He was lured to Hollywood briefly to liven up the titles for a number of silent films, and it was there that he first developed indications of heart trouble. He returned to New York for treatment and was ordered by his doctor to take a trip to Bermuda for rest, on the theory that the absence of telephones in Bermuda would force Conway to forget his normal activities and concentrate on recovery. Four days after his arrival in Bermuda, Conway died, aged 40. His wife of one year survived him. He was buried in his family plot in Albany, New York.

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John W. Conway

Writer