Heywood, Thomas, 1574?-1641, English dramatist. A prolific writer, he claimed to have written and collaborated on more than 200 plays, most of which are now lost. Although he wrote dramas based on English history, classical mythology, and romantic adventure, he is most famous for those dealing with contemporary English life. Heywood's best play, A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603), is one of the finest examples of domestic tragedy in the English drama. His other notable plays include The Fair Maid of the West (1631) and The London Traveler (1633). A professional actor as well as a playwright, he wrote an Apology for Actors (1612) in reply to attacks against the theater by the Puritans.

Heywood, John, 1497?-1580?, English dramatist. He was employed at the courts of Henry VIII and Mary I as a singer, musician, and playwright. At the accession of Elizabeth I in 1564 Heywood, who was a Roman Catholic, fled to Belgium, where he stayed for the rest of his life. Important in the development of English comedy, Heywood was the most famous writer of the interlude, a short comic dialogue. Chief among his interludes are The Play of the Weather (1533) and The Four P's (c.1543). His other works include epigrams, proverbs, and ballads.

Heywood, town (1991 pop. 29,639), Rochdale metropolitan district, NW England, in the Greater Manchester metropolitan area. Heywood's products include cotton goods, metal goods, boilers, industrial inks, carpets, paper, rope, and machinery.

Broun, Heywood Campbell, 1888-1939, American newspaper columnist and critic, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He worked on the New York Tribune (1912-21) and the New York World (1921-28), where his syndicated column, "It Seems to Me," began. In 1928 he transferred it to the Scripps-Howard newspapers, including the New York World-Telegram, where it appeared until he moved it to the New York Post just before his death. In his column Broun constantly championed the underdog, criticized social injustice, and backed emerging labor unions. A founder of the American Newspaper Guild, he was its first president from 1933 until his death. In 1930, Broun ran unsuccessfully for congress as a Socialist. His books include The A. E. F. (1918); The Boy Grew Older (1922) and Gandle Follows His Nose (1926), novels; and a biography of Anthony Comstock (with Margaret Leech, 1927). It Seems to Me (1935) and Collected Edition (ed. by H. H. Broun, 1941) give the best of his column.

(born 1497?, London, Eng.?—died after 1575, Mechelen, Belg.) British playwright. His witty, satirical verse interludes (dialogues on a set subject) helped put English drama on the road to the fully developed comedy of the Elizabethans. His interludes, which replace biblical allegory with representations of everyday life and manners, include The Play of the Wether, A Play of Love, and Wytty and Wytless (all printed 1533), and The Playe Called the Foure P.P.: A Palmer, a Pardoner, a Potycary, a Pedler (printed circa 1544). He also wrote epigrams, ballads, and a verse allegory, The Spider and the Flie (1556).

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