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Edward
Everett Tanner III (18 May 1921 – 6 November 1976), known by the nom de
plume Patrick Dennis, was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An
irreverent escapade (1955) was one of the bestselling American books of
the 20th century.[1]
In chronological vignettes, the narrator — also named Patrick — recalls his
adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis. Dennis
wrote a sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame, in 1958. Dennis
based the character of Mame Dennis on his father's sister, Marion Tanner.[2]
Dennis also wrote several novels under the pseudonym Virginia Rowans.
"I write in the first person, but it is all fictional. The public assumes
that what seems fictional is fact; so the way for me to be inventive is to
seem factual but be fictional."[3]
All of Dennis's novels employ to some degree the traditional comic devices of
masks, subterfuge and deception.
Dennis was born as Edward Everett Tanner III in Chicago, Illinois[4]
to Edward Everett Tanner II and Florence (née Thacker) Tanner, and grew up in
Evanston, Illinois. He had one sister, Barbara, later Mrs. Hastings. His
father nicknamed him "Pat" before he was born, after the Irish heavyweight
boxer Pat Sweeney, "a dirty fighter known for kicking his opponents." When he
was old enough to say so, he let it be known that he liked "Pat" better than
"Edward", and so Pat he became.[5]
He attended Evanston Township High School, where he was popular and excelled
in writing and theater.[5]
In 1942, he joined the American Field Service, working as an ambulance
driver in North Africa and the Middle East.
The first edition of Auntie Mame spent 112 weeks on the bestseller
list, selling more than 2,000,000 copies in five different languages. The
manuscript was turned down by fifteen publishers before being accepted by the
Vanguard Press.[5]
Dennis and a friend marketed the book to the booksellers. At the height of its
popularity, it was selling more than 1,000 copies a day; throughout 1955 and
1956, it sold between 1,000 and 5,000 a week.[1]
In 1956, with Auntie Mame, The Loving Couple: His (and Her) Story,
and Guestward Ho!, Dennis became the first writer ever to have three
books on the New York Times bestseller list at the same time.
72 Bank St
930 5th Ave
Working with longtime friend, actor and photographer Cris Alexander, Dennis
created two parody memoirs, complete with elaborate photographs. The first,
Little Me, recounts the escapades through life and love of glamour girl
Belle Poitrine "as told to Patrick Dennis". His wife, Louise, appeared as
"Pixie Portnoy" in the book's photographic illustrations, which included their
children and an employee as well. The second "bio", First Lady (1964),
is the life story of Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield, oblivious wife of a robber
baron who "stole" the US presidency for thirty days at the turn of the
century.
On December 30, 1948, Dennis married Louise Stickney, with whom he had two
children. He led a double life as a conventional husband and father, and as a
bisexual,[2][5][6]
in later life becoming a well-known participant in Greenwich Village's gay
scene.
Dennis' work fell out of fashion in the 1970s, and all of his books went
out of print. In his later years, he left writing to become a butler, a job
that his friends reported he enjoyed. At one time, he worked for Ray Kroc, the
CEO of McDonald's. Although he was, at long last, using his real name, he was
in essence working yet again under a pseudonym; his employers had no inkling
that their butler, Tanner, was the world-famous author Patrick Dennis.[2]
He died from pancreatic cancer in Manhattan at the age of 55, on November
6, 1976.[7]
At the turn of the 21st century there was a resurgence of interest in his
work, and subsequently many of his novels are once again available. His son,
Dr. Michael Tanner, wrote introductions to several reissues of his father's
books. Some of Dennis' original manuscripts are held at Yale University,
others at Boston University.
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dennis