Active on Broadway from 1914-28; he wrote twenty-three Broadway plays. He performed in ten of them and was the producer of four.
In 1926 he took an interest in a young actress named Ruby Stevens hired to perform a small part as a chorus girl, "Dot" in his new play, "The Noose." After coaching Stevens in acting, he rewrote parts of the play to enhance her role then talked her into changing her name to Barbara Stanwyck. A moderate hit, the play ran a respectable 197 performances at the Hudson Theatre.