Mary Chamberlin was born in Lebanon, Illinois on June 20, 1914. She is a graduate of Monticello College in Alton, Illinois, where she was admitted when only fifteen years old. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and had a brief theatrical career, terminated by marriage and motherhood. She moved to Rome, where she has lived the rest of her life until she died on July 20, 1993. She is the author of The Palazzo, and Dear Friends and Darling Romans, published by Lippincott and later by IDKPress. She has written for television, magazines, films, and newspapers. The script for her award-wining teleplay, The Ascent of P. J. O'Hara, is preserved in the archives of the Steven H. Scheuer Collection at Yale University.