Bio
Rollie Lynn Riggs (1899-1954) was an American author, poet, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his play Green Grow the Lilacs, which was adapted into the iconic musical Oklahoma!. Born near Claremore, Oklahoma, Riggs was of partial Cherokee descent and used his Cherokee land allotment to help fund his writing career. He attended the University of Oklahoma but left before graduating due to tuberculosis, later moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to recover.
Riggs’ literary career took off with the production of his one-act play Knives from Syria in 1925. This was followed by his Guggenheim Fellowship in 1928, which allowed him to travel to Europe. It was in Paris that he began writing Green Grow the Lilacs, which would later be adapted into a groundbreaking musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein in 1943.
Throughout his career, Riggs wrote 21 full-length plays, short stories, poems, and screenplays for Paramount and Universal Studios. He was a part of the Hollywood and Broadway scene, often accompanying famous actresses like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as a non-romantic escort. Riggs was also inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1943.
After moving to Shelter Island, New York, Riggs lived off royalties from Oklahoma! before succumbing to stomach cancer in 1954. He was buried in Claremore, Oklahoma, where the governor honored him with a state flag over his coffin. His legacy is remembered through various memorials, including the Lynn Riggs Black Box Theater in Oklahoma.
