Alfred Damon Runyon, 1880 - 1946
Born: 4 October 1880, Manhattan, Kansas
Died: 10 December 1946, New York City
Born Alfred Damon Runyan, he grew up in the Colorado town of Pueblo. At age fourteen he volunteered for the Spanish-American War and served in the Philippines. From Denver he covered Pancho Villa's forays along the Mexican border, an editor misspelled his last name Runyon and he never corrected it. He attempted to organize a baseball league in Colorado, failing that he quit drinking (for a dame) and moved to New York. He covered baseball and boxing for the New York American, where his first name was dropped by his editor. He made friends, and gambled with, a wide array of notables, including both Al Capone and William Randolph Hearst. Although he gave up drinking for his first wife, she died or alcohol-related health problems, and Runyon gambled and smoked heavily. He is best known for his short stories of the characters on Broadway, including the collection Guys and Dolls, the musical of that name was created from "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure". He died of throat cancer, the first telethon ever broadcast was hosted by Milton Berle to raise funds for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. After his death in 1946, legendary ace Eddie Rickenbacker buzzed Broadway, dumping Runyon's ashes over his favorite beat.
Biography from Wikipedia and Authors' Calendar
Damon Runyon quotes:
Quotes found : 16 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 2) 1 2 Next
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- A free-loader is a confirmed guest. He is the man who is always willing to come to dinner. permalink
Damon Runyon - Always try to rub up against money, for if you rub up against money long enough, some of it may rub off on you. permalink
Damon Runyon - "A Very Honorable Guy" in Cosmopolitan (August 1929) - And you cannot tell by the way a party looks or how he lives in this town, if he has any scratch, because many a party who is around in automobiles, and wearing good clothes, and chucking quite a swell is nothing but a phonus bolonus and does not have any real scratch whatever. permalink
Damon Runyon - He is without strict doubt a Hoorah Henry, and he is generally figured as nothing but a lob as far as doing anything useful in this world is concerned. permalink
Damon Runyon - He who tooteth not his own horn, the same shall not be tooted. permalink
Damon Runyon - Guys and Dolls (1932) - I long ago come to the conclusion that all life is six to five against. permalink
Damon Runyon - "A Nice Price" - I once knew a chap who had a system of just hanging the baby on the clothes line to dry and he was greatly admired by his fellow citizens for having discovered a wonderful innovation on changing a diaper. permalink
Damon Runyon - "Short Takes" (1946) - If I have all the tears that are shed on Broadway by guys in love, I will have enough salt water to start an opposition ocean to the Atlantic and Pacific, with enough left over to run the Great Salt Lake out of business. But I wish to say I never shed any of these tears personally, because I am never in love, and furthermore, barring a bad break, I never expect to be in love, for the way I look at it love is strictly the old phedinkus, and I tell the little guy as much. permalink
Damon Runyon - "Tobias the Terrible" in More than Somewhat (1937) - It may be that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong - but that's the way to bet. permalink
Damon Runyon - Guys and Dolls (1932) - One of these days in your travels a guy is going to come up to you and show you a nice brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken, and this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of the deck and squirt cider in you ear. But son, do not bet this man, for sure as you stand there, you are going to wind up with an earful of cider. permalink
Damon Runyon - Guys and Dolls (1932) - Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. permalink
Damon Runyon - She has a laugh so hearty it knocks the whipped cream off an order of strawberry shortcake on a table fifty feet away. permalink
Damon Runyon - She is a smart old broad. It is a pity she is so nefarious. permalink
Damon Runyon - Well, now, Dobber has a pretty fair sort of memory, and he says that Miss Sarah Brown tells The Sky that since he seems to know so much about the Bible, maybe he remembers the second verse of the Song of Solomon, but the chances are Dobber muffs the number of the verse, because I look the matter up in one of these Gideon Bibles, and the verse seems a little too much for Miss Sarah Brown, although of course you never can tell. permalink
Damon Runyon - Guys and Dolls (1932) - You can become a winner only if you are willing to walk over the edge. permalink
Damon Runyon
Quotes found : 16 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 2) 1 2 Next
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