Edward Sheldon's unobtrusive influence on the American theatre was assessed in the New York Times in 1941: "If America has a theatrical center, it is a little known one, the New York apartment of Ned Sheldon, a man who has been an invalid for many years." Despite the significance of his dramas, Sheldon's actual contributions to the theatre will never be fully catalogued because he declined to advertise his services to playwrights, actors, producers, and directors. Sheldon's biographer, Eric Wollencott Barnes, concludes that between 1930 and 1946 "there was no season ... which did not see at least one play in which he had some part, and frequently two or three."

Edward Brewster Sheldon, the son of Theodore and Mary Strong Sheldon, was born in Chicago in 1886. His father's wealth and his mother's cultural vitality colored young Ned's boyhood. By the time he entered boarding school, Sheldon was an inveterate playgoer. His...