Benjamin Dreyer
@bcdreyer.social
America's Copy Editor®
author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his
benjamindreyer.com
author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his
benjamindreyer.com
Cooper by Steichen (one of my favorites).
January 14, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Cooper by Steichen (one of my favorites).
Here's a fun one I've never seen before:
Cecil on Fifth Avenue, 1968.
[photo by Nick Machalaba for Women's Wear Daily]
Cecil on Fifth Avenue, 1968.
[photo by Nick Machalaba for Women's Wear Daily]
January 14, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Here's a fun one I've never seen before:
Cecil on Fifth Avenue, 1968.
[photo by Nick Machalaba for Women's Wear Daily]
Cecil on Fifth Avenue, 1968.
[photo by Nick Machalaba for Women's Wear Daily]
Well, here's a photo of birthday boy Cecil Beaton as he appeared in the 1946 NYC production of Lady Windermere's Fan, for which he also designed the sets, costumes, and lighting.
(The star power was Henry Daniell, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Estelle Winwood.)
(The star power was Henry Daniell, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Estelle Winwood.)
January 14, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Well, here's a photo of birthday boy Cecil Beaton as he appeared in the 1946 NYC production of Lady Windermere's Fan, for which he also designed the sets, costumes, and lighting.
(The star power was Henry Daniell, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Estelle Winwood.)
(The star power was Henry Daniell, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Estelle Winwood.)
These things seem to have occurred regularly back then. Here's Ethel Barrymore in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, and Fay Templeton (with DeWolf Hopper* and David Warfield) in the burlesque version.
*Hedda was the fifth of his six wives.
*Hedda was the fifth of his six wives.
January 14, 2026 at 4:11 PM
These things seem to have occurred regularly back then. Here's Ethel Barrymore in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, and Fay Templeton (with DeWolf Hopper* and David Warfield) in the burlesque version.
*Hedda was the fifth of his six wives.
*Hedda was the fifth of his six wives.
Happy birthday to excellent Holland Taylor!
January 14, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Happy birthday to excellent Holland Taylor!
the actual The Gay Lord Quex, just for the sake of comparison
January 14, 2026 at 3:22 PM
the actual The Gay Lord Quex, just for the sake of comparison
today's random theater photo:
The Giddy Throng, a burlesque of Arthur Wing Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex, 1900.
The Giddy Throng, a burlesque of Arthur Wing Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex, 1900.
January 14, 2026 at 3:02 PM
today's random theater photo:
The Giddy Throng, a burlesque of Arthur Wing Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex, 1900.
The Giddy Throng, a burlesque of Arthur Wing Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex, 1900.
Happy Tom Tryon centenary! (Today!)
January 14, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Happy Tom Tryon centenary! (Today!)
Still not fixed, as of 5:57 Pacific time.
🤷🏻♂️
🤷🏻♂️
January 14, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Still not fixed, as of 5:57 Pacific time.
🤷🏻♂️
🤷🏻♂️
Sandy Dennis and Gene Hackman in Any Wednesday (1964)
January 13, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Sandy Dennis and Gene Hackman in Any Wednesday (1964)
[as if I'd forget]
Happy Frances Sternhagen's birthday!
Happy Frances Sternhagen's birthday!
January 13, 2026 at 3:28 PM
[as if I'd forget]
Happy Frances Sternhagen's birthday!
Happy Frances Sternhagen's birthday!
Happy Sophie Tucker's birthday!
January 13, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Happy Sophie Tucker's birthday!
Happy Gwen Verdon's birthday!
(Hi, Stephen.)
(Hi, Stephen.)
January 13, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Happy Gwen Verdon's birthday!
(Hi, Stephen.)
(Hi, Stephen.)
today's random theater photo:
birthday girl Rosemary Murphy with Barbara Cook in Any Wednesday (1964)
birthday girl Rosemary Murphy with Barbara Cook in Any Wednesday (1964)
January 13, 2026 at 3:21 PM
today's random theater photo:
birthday girl Rosemary Murphy with Barbara Cook in Any Wednesday (1964)
birthday girl Rosemary Murphy with Barbara Cook in Any Wednesday (1964)
I'm ten years older than this wizened homunculus.
January 13, 2026 at 6:06 AM
I'm ten years older than this wizened homunculus.
weary of the paparazzi
January 13, 2026 at 12:28 AM
weary of the paparazzi
• We had a really lovely splurge dinner here, otherwise it's mostly fun to eat cheap (I found).
January 12, 2026 at 10:30 PM
• We had a really lovely splurge dinner here, otherwise it's mostly fun to eat cheap (I found).
every time I see Jerome Powell's name...
January 12, 2026 at 6:30 PM
every time I see Jerome Powell's name...
today's random theater photos:
Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon (1920)
Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon (1920)
January 12, 2026 at 3:16 PM
today's random theater photos:
Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon (1920)
Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon (1920)
Happy Patsy Kelly's birthday!
January 12, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Happy Patsy Kelly's birthday!
These, I believe, are actual galley pages, and they'd ceased to exist by the time I started working in publishing.
"Long galleys," I think the old-timers tended to call them.
"Long galleys," I think the old-timers tended to call them.
January 11, 2026 at 11:39 PM
These, I believe, are actual galley pages, and they'd ceased to exist by the time I started working in publishing.
"Long galleys," I think the old-timers tended to call them.
"Long galleys," I think the old-timers tended to call them.
Here. Chew on this.
January 11, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Here. Chew on this.