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Alfred Suto, Playwright, Dies After Brief Illness

September 14, 1933
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Alfred Sutro, famous playwright, died Tuesday night at his home in Surrey. He was 70 years old and succumbed to bronchial pneumonia. He was sick only a few days.

Mr. Sutro was a brother-in-law of the Marquess of Reading, noted English statesman, and was closely connected all his life with the London Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue and with Jewish life.

He was born in London on August 7, 1863, a son of Dr. Sigismund Sutro. He was educated at the City of London School and in Brussels. The dramatist married Stella Isaacs, a daughter of the late Joseph M. Isaacs, London merchant, and a sister of the Marquess of Reading.

He won his first recognition as a playwright in 1904 with the play “The Walls of Jericho.” The late William Archer, distinguished English dramatic critic, encouraged him in his ambition.

For more than 30 years, from 1896 to 1929, Mr. Sutro maintained a steady output of plays, including one-act pieces and French adaptations. Some of the better-known plays are: “The Builder of Bridges”, “Making of a Gentleman”. “The Perplexed Husband”, and “The Desperate Lovers.”

His friendship with Maurice Maeterlinck led to his being chosen to translate three of his prose works, including the famous “Life of the Bee.”

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