According to the biography, Bogart’s friend Robert Emmet Sherwood was particularly troubled by the actor’s drinking. Sherwood decided to give Bogart another shot by putting in a good word with a producer who was in the process of putting together “The Petrified Forest,” a play which was in need of a host of small characters.

As it turned out, not only did Bogart get a role in “The Petrified Forest,” but he was cast as the play’s wild, escaped convict, a substantial role that was perfect for a man already experiencing feelings of desperation. When the play opened, Bogart stole the stage. As Kafner wrote:

“When Duke made his first entrance there were audible gasps, in part because he was so dark and menacing, in part because John Dillinger, America’s most wanted fugitive, had recently escaped from jail. The real-life gangster seemed, in the play’s edgiest moments, to have materialized onstage. Humphrey Bogart, the eternal upper-class twit, had turned himself into the new villain du jour, and the play’s strongest attraction.”

The play had a long, successful run, providing Bogart with a relatively stable source of income that he could use to make payments towards his debts. But better than that, it also provided a launchpad for what would soon become a lucrative Hollywood career, and it helped to set the actor up for the tough, cool roles he would later become known for).