Author, Playwright. His fame rests on his novel "Mister Roberts" (1946) and its classic stage (1948) and screen (1955) adaptations. The hero of the story, Lt. Douglas Roberts, is a young officer aboard the USS Reluctant, a Navy cargo ship in the South Pacific backwater during the final months of World War II. He yearns for a battle assignment but instead must defend his crew against the petty tyranny of the ship's commander, and the maddening dullness of their duties. Filled with broad humor, pathos, and colorful supporting characters (the obnoxious Captain, philosophical Doc, and scheming, feckless Ensign Pulver), "Mister Roberts" proved one of the most popular tales to emerge from the war years. Heggen's story captures a universal feeling of restlessness felt by many young enlistees, caught in an interminably long war. Thomas Orlo Heggen was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, a small town on the Des Moines River. From his early teens he dreamed of writing something fine, influenced by Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his cousin, novelist Wallace Stegner. Heggen was an excellent student and avid reader, skipping two grades before high school. His father was unable to find work for most of his childhood, requiring frequent moves between home rentals. At the height of the Dust Bowl, when Heggen was in high school, the family relocated to Oklahoma City where his father found work. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism, Heggen moved to White Plains, New York to work as an assistant editor for Reader's Digest. He joined the US Navy immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was commissioned a lieutenant in August 1942. Heggen served on five ships in four years, participating in the naval campaigns at Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His ships were: the USS South Dakota, the USS Salinas, USS Agawam, USS Rotanin and USS Virgo. The South Dakota was a battleship. The Salinas was a replenishment oiler. The Agawam was a tanker, delivering gasoline to warships. The Rotanen delivered troops and equipment in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Heggen's last ship, the USS Virgo, was an attack cargo ship. He came aboard in July 1944. She carried troops, ammunition and cargo, delivering troops to battles at Guam and Palau Islands. In February 1945 she replenished destroyers at Iwo Jima. From there she joined the battle at Okinawa where the crew was frequently called to quarters for air alerts and kamikaze attacks. The Japanese launched 2,000 suicide attacks against the invasion fleet and 240,000 people were killed at Okinawa. (The National WWII Museum) Heggen began using prescription medication for insomnia during his Navy years. He served as Assistant Communications Officer, often responsible for deck watches, on rotating shifts.
During his 14 months aboard the Virgo, Heggen wrote a collection of vignettes about daily life on the ship, which he described as sailing "from Tedium to Apathy and back again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony". Like his fictional alter ego Doug Roberts, he felt "left out" of the war and butted heads with his commander, a coarse martinet who repeatedly denied his requests for transfer to a destroyer. Following his discharge in December 1945, he moved to New York and reworked the material into a loosely structured novel, adding an introductory chapter. Heggen's editor at Houghton-Mifflin suggested changing the novel's title from "The Iron-Bound Bucket" to "Mister Roberts" and Heggen agreed. It sold over 1 million copies and made Heggen the toast of the New York literary scene, followed by a lucrative offer to adapt the book for the Broadway stage. Heggen worked with Broadway director-producer Joshua Logan to write the play version of "Mister Roberts". They become close friends as well as collaborators. "Mister Roberts" opened at Broadway's Alvin Theater in February 1948. With a now legendary performance by Henry Fonda in the title role, the 1948 stage version of "Mister Roberts" was a smash. Heggen and Logan shared the first Tony Award presented for Best Play and the original production ran for 1,157 performances. It was made into an Oscar-winning 1955 film, starring Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon. Heggen would not live to see it. At 29, Heggen drowned in his bathtub. His death was ruled a probable suicide, though he left no note and those close to him insisted it was an accident. The novel version of "Mister Roberts" has slipped in and out of print since then but the play is still revived. It spawned the movie sequel "Ensign Pulver" (1964) and a television series (1965), and in 1984 was performed live on a primetime NBC broadcast, starring Robert Hays, Charles Durning, and Kevin Bacon. John Leggett's "Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies" (1974, reissued in 2000) is a novelized study of Heggen and a similarly ill-fated author, Ross Lockridge ("Raintree County").
Author, Playwright. His fame rests on his novel "Mister Roberts" (1946) and its classic stage (1948) and screen (1955) adaptations. The hero of the story, Lt. Douglas Roberts, is a young officer aboard the USS Reluctant, a Navy cargo ship in the South Pacific backwater during the final months of World War II. He yearns for a battle assignment but instead must defend his crew against the petty tyranny of the ship's commander, and the maddening dullness of their duties. Filled with broad humor, pathos, and colorful supporting characters (the obnoxious Captain, philosophical Doc, and scheming, feckless Ensign Pulver), "Mister Roberts" proved one of the most popular tales to emerge from the war years. Heggen's story captures a universal feeling of restlessness felt by many young enlistees, caught in an interminably long war. Thomas Orlo Heggen was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, a small town on the Des Moines River. From his early teens he dreamed of writing something fine, influenced by Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his cousin, novelist Wallace Stegner. Heggen was an excellent student and avid reader, skipping two grades before high school. His father was unable to find work for most of his childhood, requiring frequent moves between home rentals. At the height of the Dust Bowl, when Heggen was in high school, the family relocated to Oklahoma City where his father found work. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism, Heggen moved to White Plains, New York to work as an assistant editor for Reader's Digest. He joined the US Navy immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was commissioned a lieutenant in August 1942. Heggen served on five ships in four years, participating in the naval campaigns at Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His ships were: the USS South Dakota, the USS Salinas, USS Agawam, USS Rotanin and USS Virgo. The South Dakota was a battleship. The Salinas was a replenishment oiler. The Agawam was a tanker, delivering gasoline to warships. The Rotanen delivered troops and equipment in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Heggen's last ship, the USS Virgo, was an attack cargo ship. He came aboard in July 1944. She carried troops, ammunition and cargo, delivering troops to battles at Guam and Palau Islands. In February 1945 she replenished destroyers at Iwo Jima. From there she joined the battle at Okinawa where the crew was frequently called to quarters for air alerts and kamikaze attacks. The Japanese launched 2,000 suicide attacks against the invasion fleet and 240,000 people were killed at Okinawa. (The National WWII Museum) Heggen began using prescription medication for insomnia during his Navy years. He served as Assistant Communications Officer, often responsible for deck watches, on rotating shifts.
During his 14 months aboard the Virgo, Heggen wrote a collection of vignettes about daily life on the ship, which he described as sailing "from Tedium to Apathy and back again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony". Like his fictional alter ego Doug Roberts, he felt "left out" of the war and butted heads with his commander, a coarse martinet who repeatedly denied his requests for transfer to a destroyer. Following his discharge in December 1945, he moved to New York and reworked the material into a loosely structured novel, adding an introductory chapter. Heggen's editor at Houghton-Mifflin suggested changing the novel's title from "The Iron-Bound Bucket" to "Mister Roberts" and Heggen agreed. It sold over 1 million copies and made Heggen the toast of the New York literary scene, followed by a lucrative offer to adapt the book for the Broadway stage. Heggen worked with Broadway director-producer Joshua Logan to write the play version of "Mister Roberts". They become close friends as well as collaborators. "Mister Roberts" opened at Broadway's Alvin Theater in February 1948. With a now legendary performance by Henry Fonda in the title role, the 1948 stage version of "Mister Roberts" was a smash. Heggen and Logan shared the first Tony Award presented for Best Play and the original production ran for 1,157 performances. It was made into an Oscar-winning 1955 film, starring Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon. Heggen would not live to see it. At 29, Heggen drowned in his bathtub. His death was ruled a probable suicide, though he left no note and those close to him insisted it was an accident. The novel version of "Mister Roberts" has slipped in and out of print since then but the play is still revived. It spawned the movie sequel "Ensign Pulver" (1964) and a television series (1965), and in 1984 was performed live on a primetime NBC broadcast, starring Robert Hays, Charles Durning, and Kevin Bacon. John Leggett's "Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies" (1974, reissued in 2000) is a novelized study of Heggen and a similarly ill-fated author, Ross Lockridge ("Raintree County").
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6687717/thomas_orlo-heggen: accessed
), memorial page for Thomas Orlo Heggen (23 Dec 1919–19 May 1949), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6687717, citing Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis,
Hennepin County,
Minnesota,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Thomas Orlo Heggen
Fulfill Photo Request for Thomas Orlo Heggen
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.