Liveright was born into a Jewish family in 1884. He initially followed the career of a bond salesman. He married Lucille Elsas, the daughter of Herman Elsas the owner of a paper company merged into International Paper of which he was subsequently an officer and director. The marriage took place in April 1911, and Liveright used his father-in-law's financial backing to embark on a publishing career. The Liverights had two children, Herman and Lucy. Lucille divorced Liveright on grounds of misconduct in 1928, alleging "misconduct with an actress in an inn near Croton-on-Hudson." In December 1931 he married the actress Elise Bartlett ; she filed for divorce four months later.
Publishing career
In 1917 Liveright founded the Modern Library and Boni & Liveright publishers in New York with business partner Albert Boni. Modern Library was formed as a reprinting line, publishing inexpensive books from European modernists, while Boni & Liveright published the work of contemporary Americans. Liveright published work by T. S. Eliot, Charles Fort, Theodore Dreiser, and Bertrand Russell. The company also published the first books by Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Hart Crane, Dorothy Parker, and S. J. Perelman. Liveright believed that books could be marketed similarly to other media and was among the first to aggressively sell novels. Liveright was also a vocal campaigner against the strict literary censorship of the period. Despite their successes, Liveright and Boni's relationship broke down and the pair chose to part ways. It is reported that they flipped a coin to decide who would buy the other out, and Liveright gained control. In 1923, Liveright's alcoholism started to take its toll. Throwing frequent, lavish parties, he would over-indulge many nights per week.
Stage production
Liveright started his stage production career in 1924. His initial choices of plays were not successful, and he had to use an increasing amount of money from his publishing company. His faltering financial status meant that he had to sell the Modern Library to then-vice-president Bennett Cerf in 1925. Liveright started to put money from the publishing company into Broadway productions but soon found that the erratic success of the Boni & Liveright publishers was not a secure income; the Modern Library had been the backbone of his finances. In 1928 he lost control of Boni & Liveright and was pushed out entirely by 1930. Liveright achieved success in theatre. His production of Dracula debuted on 5 October 1927, three years after the first authorized adaptation by Hamilton Deane. Liveright had employed John L. Balderston to revise the script for an American audience. He brought in Béla Lugosi to play Dracula. Edward Van Sloan played Van Helsing. The actors reprised these roles in Tod Browning's 1931 film by the same name. Despite an income of over $2 million from the play, Liveright failed to fulfill his business responsibilities, never paying $678.01 in royalties to Florence Balcombe, the widow of the original author Bram Stoker.
Death
Liveright died of pneumonia on September 24, 1933, aged forty-nine. Years of alcoholism and his business failures likely contributed to his death. Six people were said to have attended his funeral.
Portrayal and biography
Ben Hecht wrote and directed the film The Scoundrel, inspired by Liveright and his friend Tommy Smith. An Academy Award winner, it marked the on-screen debut for Noël Coward, who played the central character.
Tom Dardis wrote a biography of Liveright, called Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright .
