Elizabeth Meehan
British screenwriter (1894–1967)
Elizabeth Meehan
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Elizabeth Meehan, from a 1928 publication.
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Born |
22 August 1894
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Died |
24 April 1967
(
1967-04-25
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(aged
72)
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Other names | Betty Meehan, Betty Williams, Elizabeth Meehan Williams |
Occupation | Screenwriter |
Elizabeth Meehan (22 August 1894 – 24 April 1967) was a British screenwriter who worked in both Britain and Hollywood .
Early life
Meehan was born on the Isle of Wight , and lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . [1] [2]
Career
As a young woman, Betty Meehan was a model, a professional swimmer, [2] and a chorus girl with the Ziegfeld Follies , in the same sextet of dancers as Billie Dove and Alta King . "Oh yes, I know that chorines have the reputation of being beautiful but dumb," she explained in a 1928 interview, "And, perhaps, some of them are. But you'd be surprised at the girls you'll find in the choruses." [3]
Meehan credited James M. Barrie with helping her transition into screenwriting. [4] During the late 1930s Meehan was employed by the studio head Walter C. Mycroft to work for British International Pictures . [5] Meehan frequently collaborated with the Irish director Herbert Brenon .
Later in her career, Meehan worked in television, writing episodes of Lux Video Theatre , Fireside Theatre , and Mama .
Personal life
Meehan had a daughter, Frances Meehan Williams (1930-2006), [6] who became an actress and later a psychotherapist. [7] [8] Elizabeth Meehan died in 1967, in New York, aged 72 years. [9] Her daughter donated some of her original scripts and screenplays to the Special Collections library at UCLA . [10]
Selected filmography
- The Great Gatsby (1926)
- Sorrell and Son (1927)
- The Telephone Girl (1927)
- Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
- The Rescue (1929)
- The Case of Sergeant Grischa (1930)
- Lummox (1930)
- Beau Ideal (1931)
- Oliver Twist (1933)
- West of Singapore (1933)
- Harmony Lane (1935)
- Spring Handicap (1937)
- Over She Goes (1938)
- Star of the Circus (1938)
- Housemaster (1938)
- A Gentleman's Gentleman (1939)
- Parachute Nurse (1942)
- Storm Over Lisbon (1944)
- Northwest Outpost (1947)
References
- ↑ "Letters to 'Ye Ed' " . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 6 October 1935. p. 58 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Jordan, Anne (8 January 1929). "Another Chorus Girl Makes Good" . The Daily News . p. 2 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Cohn, Gene (14 December 1928). "Extra-Girl Writes Way to Fame" . Bismarck Tribune . p. 29 . Retrieved 23 August 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ↑ "From Chorus Girl to Script Writer" . Star-Phoenix . 14 January 1937. p. 8 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Harper, Sue. Women in British Cinema: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know . Continuum International, 2000. p. 184.
- ↑ "Storybook Folk at Party" . The Los Angeles Times . 21 July 1935. p. 51 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Starlets, Screenwriter Here For Movie Observance" . LNP Always Lancaster . 9 October 1951. p. 24 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Frances Meehan" . The Los Angeles Times . 1 September 2006. p. 140 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Elizabeth Meehan" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 27 April 1967. p. 27 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Finding Aid for the Elizabeth Meehan Papers, 1930-1955" . UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections . Retrieved 24 August 2019 .
Bibliography
- Harper, Sue. Women in British Cinema: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know . Continuum International, 2000.
- Low, Rachael. History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
External links
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