Howard Merrill Shelley

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Howard Merrill Shelley (1879–1956) was an American playwright and theater press agent. He was born in Philadelphia and attended Villanova College, now Villanova University. The college gave him an honorary Master of Arts degree in 1956.

Shelley came from a notable family. His mother, Sophia Rittenhouse Shelley, was descended from the scientist David Rittenhouse. His grandmother, Amanda McClellan, was connected by marriage to Benjamin Franklin and was related to Civil War general George B. McClellan. The McClellan line on his grandmother’s side also traced back to Revolutionary War figures and early Pennsylvania settlers. He also had a second cousin, Kate Shelley, who became famous for saving many lives by preventing a train disaster.

In 1914, Shelley wrote a play called The Family Tree, drawing on his own family history and Philadelphia’s interest in genealogy. Earlier, in 1904, he co-wrote a popular musical, The Beauty Doctor, described as a humorous look at the beauty craze of the time.

He later worked as a theatrical press agent and wrote about society under the pen name Barclay Beekman for the New York Daily Mirror. He worked with famous performers such as Lillian Russell, Luisa Tetrazzini, Mary Garden, and the Hammerstein family.

Shelley died on December 11, 1956, after a two-year illness, at the age of 77.