Royall Tyler (1757-1826), American playwright and novelist as well as a jurist, wrote the first successful American play.

Royall Tyler was born into a prosperous and enterprising Boston family. His intellectual qualities were early recognized, for when he graduated from Harvard in 1776 he was awarded a bachelor's degree from Yale as well. He interrupted his legal studies to serve as a major during the Revolution, was admitted to the bar in 1780, and joined the law office of John Adams. Tyler fell in love with the future president's daughter; but the engagement was broken off, reportedly because Adams disapproved of Tyler's high-spirited temperament. Tyler once more joined the Army during Shays' Rebellion (1786), and his eloquent speeches contributed to calming the rioters.

While on military business in New York in 1787, Tyler attended the theater and, after seeing a production of The School for Scandal, was inspired to write his own...