Asked to describe his friend Alexander Woollcott in one word, George S. Kaufman came up with "improbable." After serving as a foreign correspondent during World War I, Woollcott returned to New York and became the ringleader of the three-drink circus known as the Algonquin Round Table. He was drama critic of THE NEW YORK TIMES as early as 1914; soon he was barred by the Shubert Brothers because his reviews were too barbed for their tastes. He covered the shows anyway. He was instrumental in promoting such varied artists as Eugene O'Neill, the Marx Brothers, and Irving Berlin to the world at large. He worked at a number of papers, including the NEW YORK HERALD and THE WORLD, until 1928, when he retired to become an essayist, raconteur, and radio personality. His larger-than-life ego and waspish wit made him a Broadway archetype, and he himself became the role model for characters in plays like Kaufman and Moss Hart's "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and the film LAURA. Asked to review a volume of inferior poetry entitled AND I SHALL MAKE MUSIC, he wrote "Not on my carpet, lady!" For George S. Kaufman's fifth anniversary as THE NEW YORK TIMES drama editor, Woollcott sent a telegram: I HAVE BEEN LOOKING AROUND FOR AN APPROPRIATE WOODEN GIFT AND AM HEREBY PLEASED TO PRESENT YOU WITH ELSIE FERGUSON'S PERFORMANCE IN HER NEW PLAY. photo credits: Photofest