Richard Walton Tully

Richard Walton Tully (May 7, 1877 – February 1, 1945) was an American playwright. Tully was born on May 7, 1877, in Nevada City, California. Tully was married to another playwright Eleanor Gates until he divorced her in 1914.His best known work was the 1912 play The Bird of Paradise, which caused a long-running court case over alleged plagiarism. A schoolteacher named Grace Fender was initially successful in persuading the court that Tully's play was based on her play In Hawaii, however the case was reversed on appeal.Tully retired to breed horses. He died on February 1, 1945, in New York City at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.