Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen (September 12, 1912 – October 26, 1991) was an American author and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

. He used several different pseudonyms for his works. His 50+ novels of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

were published under the pen names Will Henry and Clay Fisher. Allen's screenplays and scripts for

animated shorts A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

were credited to Heck Allen and Henry Allen.

Biography

Henry Wilson Allen was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. His older brother Robert Allen was an animator who worked for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

. Before he began his writing career he worked variously as a stablehand, shop clerk, and gold miner. In 1937 he began working as a contract

for the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to ac ...

. While his early work was for

Harman and Ising Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were an American animation team known for founding the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios. Early history Harman and Ising first worked in animation in the early 1920s at Laugh-O-Gram Studio, ...

's "

Barney Bear ''Barney Bear'' is an American series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy bear who often is in pursuit of nothing but p ...

" series, his longest collaboration was with director

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most s ...

. Allen was credited as story artist on many classic Avery shorts, included '' Swing Shift Cinderella'', ''

Northwest Hounded Police ''Northwest Hounded Police'' is a 1946 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery, produced by Fred Quimby, and featuring Droopy and Avery's wolf character. A remake of Droopy's first cartoon '' Dumb-Hounded'' (also adopting elements from ...

'', and '' King-Size Canary'', among many others. Allen downplayed his contributions to the shorts, claiming that Avery merely used him as a sounding board for his own ideas. He was later fired by

Fred Quimby Frederick Clinton Quimby (July 31, 1886 – September 16, 1965) was an American animation producer and journalist best known for producing the '' Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series, for which he won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film ...

and went to work for

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative o ...

on several

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...

cartoons that he co-wrote with

Ben Hardaway Joseph Benson Hardaway (May 21, 1895 – February 5, 1957) was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was somet ...

including '' Wet Blanket Policy'' and '' Wild and Woody!''. Following the 1948 shutdown of Walter Lantz Productions, Allen returned to MGM and continued to write for Avery's cartoons that were released during the 1950s including ''

Little Johnny Jet ''Little Johnny Jet'' is a 1953 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio cartoon short directed by Tex Avery about a "family" of airplanes. The title is a play on '' Little Johnny Jones''. The screenplay was written by Heck Allen. The film score was comp ...

'', '' The Three Little Pups'', and '' The First Bad Man''. Allen's career as a novelist began in 1950, with the publication of his first

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

''No Survivors.'' Allen, afraid that the studio would disapprove of his moonlighting, used a pen-name to avoid trouble. He would go on to publish over 50 novels, eight of which were adapted for the screen. Most of these were published under one or the other of the pseudonyms Will Henry and Clay Fisher. Allen was a five-time winner of the

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

from the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historia ...

and a recipient of the Levi Strauss Award for lifetime achievement. Allen died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

on October 26, 1991, in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

. He was 79.

Partial bibliography

*''No Survivors'', 1950 *"Red Blizzard", 1951 *"Wolf-Eye, The Bad One", 1951 (For Children) *''Santa Fe Passage'', 1952 (" Santa Fe Passage", filmed in 1955) *"To Follow a Flag", 1953 (republished as "Pillars of the Sky"), ("

Pillars of the Sky ''Pillars of the Sky'' is a 1956 American CinemaScope Western film directed by George Marshall and starring Jeff Chandler and Dorothy Malone. Plot Oregon Country 1868: Indians of many tribes trust Sgt. Emmett Bell, who rides into Dr. Joseph Ho ...

", filmed in 1956) *"War Bonnet", 1953 *"Yellow Hair", 1953 *''Death of a Legend'', 1954 (republished as "The Raiders") *"The Fourth Horseman", 1954 *''The Tall Men'', 1954 ('' The Tall Men'', filmed in 1955) *''The Big Pasture'', 1955 *''The Brass Command", 1955 *''Who Rides with Wyatt'', 1955 ('' Young Billy Young'', filmed in 1969) *''Red Brother and White'', 1955 *''The Blue Mustang'', 1956 *''The North Star'', 1956 (republished as "Blind Cañon") (filmed as '' Tashunga'' (also released as ''The North Star''), 1996) *''The Texas Rangers'', 1957 (For Children) *''Yellowstone Kelly'', 1957 ('' Yellowstone Kelly'', filmed in 1959) *"The Seven Men at Mimbres Spring", 1958 *"The Crossing", 1958 *"Orphan of the North", 1958 (For Children) *''From Where the Sun Now Stands'', 1960 (Spur Award Winner) (The Saddleman Award), 1961 *''Journey to Shiloh'', 1960 ('' Journey to Shiloh'', filmed in 1968) *"Nino: The Legend of Apache Kid", 1961 *"The Return of the Tall Man", 1961 *''The Feleen Brand'', 1962 *"San Juan Hill", 1962 *"The Pitchfork Patrol", 1962 *"The Gates of the Mountains", 1963 (Spur Award Winner) *''MacKenna's Gold'', 1963 (''

Mackenna's Gold ''Mackenna's Gold'' is a 1969 American Western film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring an ensemble cast featuring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Telly Savalas, Ted Cassidy, Camilla Sparv and Julie Newmar in lead roles. It was photographed in Sup ...

'', filmed in 1969) *"Valley of the Bear", 1964 (For Children) *''In the Land of the Mandans'', 1965 (For Children) *''The Last Warpath'', 1966 *''Custer's Last Stand: The Story of the Battle of the Little Big Horn'', 1966 *"Sons of the Western frontier'', 1968 *"Genesis Five" *''One More River to Cross'', 1967 *"Alias Butch Cassidy" *"Maheo's Children: The Legend of Little Dried River'', 1968 (republished as "The Squaw killers") *"The Day Fort Larking Fell'', 1968 *''Genesis Five'', 1968 *''Outlaws and Legends'', 1969 *"Tayopa!", 1968 *"See How They Run", 1970 *''Starbuck'', 1972 *''Chiricahua'', 1972 (Spur Award winner) *"Outcasts of Canyon Creek" *''The Bear Paw Horses'', 1973 *"Apache Ransom", 1974 *''Sex and Pain'', 1975 *''I, Tom Horn,'' 1975 *"Black Apache" 1976 *''From Where the Twilight Zone'', 1976 *''Summer of the Gun'', 1978 *"Nine Lives West", 1978 *"Seven Card Stud", 1981 *''The Legend of Sotoju Mountain,'' 2002 *''Winter Shadows'', 2003 *''The Hunkpapa Scout'', 2004 *''The Scout'', 2005 *''Medicine Road,'' 2006

Attributed quotes

*''Further specificity, citation or even debunking (of course) welcomed'' "The wishbone will never replace the backbone." Harrison, Todd
"Pick a Side or Stand Aside"
''Minyanville'', November 16, 2011, 8:00 am. Retrieved November 16, 2011.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Henry Wilson 1912 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers American male novelists Animation screenwriters Writers from Kansas City, Missouri Western (genre) writers Novelists about outlaws of the American Old West Novelists from Missouri Screenwriters from Missouri Deaths from pneumonia in California Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people Walter Lantz Productions people 20th-century pseudonymous writers