Mary Eunice McCarthy (March 4, 1899 – August 7, 1969) was an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, playwright, journalist and author, perhaps best known today as the screenwriter of, and driving force behind, the biopic '' Sister Kenny'' (1946).Cohn, Victor (February 10, 1954). "The Story of Sister Kenny: Seven Questions at Party Tested Nurse's Character". pp. 1-A
10-A
Retrieved February 2, 2022.

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

Biography

Beginnings

One of 13 children born to John Henry McCarty and Catherine Elizabeth Theresa Lynch,Nichols, Luther (November 8, 1957)
"S.F. Mother Was Spunky"
''The San Francisco Examiner''. p. 59. Retrieved February 2, 2022. Mary graduated from Star of the Sea Parish High School in 1917. She then attended College of the Holy Names before embarking on a career as a journalist in the Bay Area. One of her positions in the early 1920s was as a reporter at ''The San Francisco Bulletin''.

Hollywood career

Around 1921, McCarthy followed her brothers to Hollywood, where she worked at an advertising agency while trying to teach herself the fundamentals of screenwriting. Between 1925 and 1957, she wrote a number of films and at least two stage plays—the latter of which also featured the playwright, under her married name Mary Boyle, in the lead role."News From the Dailies: New York"
''Variety''. July 21, 1931. p. 39. "Mary Eunice McCarthy, Pacific Coast Newspaper woman, took leading role in her own play, 'Mrs. Garibaldi,' when tried out at Woodstock, N.Y. Stage name Mary Boyle." Retrieved February 2, 2022. During this period, McCarthy lived in Los Angeles but frequently traveled to San Francisco for work.Old Anson (June 23, 1929)
"Play-at-Home"
''The San Francisco Examiner''. Retrieved January 13, 2019. McCarthy also wrote two nonfiction books: ''Hands of Hollywood'' was published in 1929, while ''Meet Kitty'' (a memoir about her mother) was published in 1957. That same year, both ''

Matinee Theater ''Matinee Theater'' is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955, to June 27, 1958. Its name is often seen as ''Matinee Theatre''. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ...

'' and '' O. Henry Playhouse'' featured new McCarthy teleplays.Shalit, Sid (August 16, 1957)
"News Around the Dials"
''New York Daily News''. Retrieved February 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com. In 1939, a syndicated profile/interview highlighted McCarthy's "pet dislike at present," paraphrased by UP's Alex Kahn as "the so-called Hollywood 'Intellectuals' who, she says, try so hard to be different and become so utterly confused." Quoted directly, McCarthy continues:

What they need to do is to look more closely at the fundamentals of American life, sympathetically, not with intent to "commit a message."

Aside from foreshadowing the anti-message 'message' of

Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He is credited as being the first screenwriter to find success as a director. Prior to Sturges, other ...

's ''

Sullivan's Travels ''Sullivan's Travels'' is a 1941 American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges. A satire of the film industry, it follows a famous Hollywood comedy director ( Joel McCrea) who, longing to make a socially relevant drama, sets out ...

'', McCarthy's gripe also sheds light on a script she had recently completed and another she would soon begin, namely '' Irish Luck'' (1939) and '' Chasing Trouble'' (1940), vehicles designed for the newly minted, interracial comic team of

Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actor in several films. Ear ...

and

Frankie Darro Frankie Darro (born Frank Johnson, Jr.; December 22, 1917 – December 25, 1976) was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles ...

(the latter having previously been singled out for praise in McCarthy's ''Hands of Hollywood''). Despite playing the duo's nominal leader, Darro's leadership is typically so compromised by harebrained schemes and arcane, questionable methodology—in effect, "try ngso hard to be different"—that he can scarcely help but "become utterly confused." Moreover, while it is unclear to what extent, if any, she herself was responsible for the Moreland-Darro pairing, the following excerpts from McCarthy's 1957 biography of her mother provides a useful reference point, regarding "the fundamentals of American life" as practiced and preached in the McCarty/McCarthy household.

"I don't like the word tolerance. It sounds stuck up". It was a little old lady speaking, very little and quite old. Her name was Kitty, and she was my mother. "There ain't any respect in tolerating," she continued, the blue of her eyes grown darker with indignation. "That's just putting up with them, like with bad plumbing when you can't afford to move..." ..She did not "tolerate" the Negro or the Asiatic, the Protestant or the Jew, despite their racial or religious difference. Instead, she respected every human being equally, because she thought Thomas Jefferson had meant every word of the Declaration.

Reviewing ''Meet Kitty'' for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Ernestine Moller Gilbreth Carey (; April 5, 1908 – November 4, 2006) was an American writer. Early life and education Ernestine Moller Gilbreth was born in New York City on April 5, 1908. She was the daughter of Frank B. and Lillian (Mol ...

'' wrote:

What lasting impact does a mother make on her daughter's mind and heart? In her first book, cCarthyhas chosen to answer this question with gusto and courage. ..Through no quirk of chance the writer highlights her mother against a panorama of beautiful, bustling San Francisco rather than of kitchen, washtub, nursery and parlor. By the time Mary was 6 years old, five of Kitty's children had died; within another few years an unusually gifted son followed them. Meanwhile additional sorrow had developed when Kitty's scamp of a husband deserted her, leaving no financial support. ..In spite of such undertones, this account is predominantly gay, nostalgic and alive with humor. Yet its canvas and colors seem stretched thin occasionally. For when the seething chemistry of inter-family relationships is bottled up for obvious reasons, even San Francisco with its colorful history and humanity can't substitute. Nevertheless, Miss McCarthy has given us a delightful portrait—one which is sure to be warmly welcomed and enjoyed.

In October 1958, McCarthy would briefly resume her journalistic career as author of a weekly column published in the ''West Los Angeles Independent''. It ran for a little under three years and was entitled simply "Mary McCarthy's Column". But, as her new employer noted prior to the column's debut, "Anything more pretentious would offend Mary Eunice McCarthy."

Personal life

She had two brothers who were writer-directors in the industry:

John P. McCarthy John P. McCarthy (March 17, 1884 – September 4, 1962), also known as J.P. McCarthy or simply as John McCarthy, was an American director and screenwriter of the 1920s through 1945. He began in the film industry in front of the camera, as an ac ...

and

Henry McCarty Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely respo ...

. Another brother,

Francis Joseph McCarty Francis Joseph McCarty (May 23, 1888 – May 11, 1906) was a San Francisco experimenter, who conducted early radiotelephone research and development. He died at the age of 17, but despite his young age and early death, in 2011 he was elected int ...

, built one of the first radiotelephone sets in 1902, but died in a road accident in 1906. From January 1922 until at least July 1931, McCarthy was married to

Edward G. Boyle Edward George Boyle (born Edward Joshua Boyle; January 30, 1899 – February 17, 1977) was a Canadian set decorator active in Hollywood between 1925 and 1970. Career Boyle's career began in the early 1930s, when he started working on the fi ...

, a set decorator."California, County Marriages, 1850-1952"
database with images, FamilySearch, Edward George Boyle and Mary Eunice McCarthy, 25 Jan 1922; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,074,274. Retrieved March 9, 2021. "Bad Movies Blamed to Showgoers"
''The Oakland Tribune''. March 7, 1928. Retrieved January 13, 2019. In the weeks leading up to the 1928 presidential election, McCarthy—dubbed "the Joan of Arc of the Democratic Party"—harshly criticized the Hoover presidency and campaigned on behalf of his Democratic opponent,

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

. The dedicatee of her 1929 film-making guide, ''Hands of Hollywood'', was longtime friend and colleague Lucy Beaumont, who had starred in at least two McCarthy-scripted films.K.L. (January 10, 1926)
"The Feud Again!"
''Los Angeles Times''. p. 146. Retrieved February 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

Dedicated
to
Lucy Beaumont
DISTINGUISHED ACTRESS,
ALWAYS STARRED IN
THE ROLE OF MY FRIEND

'Tis thanking you, we are, for being so
small—you fit the heart so snug.

Selected filmography

* ''Hill Folk'' (aka ''Savage Passions'') (1926) * ''The Fighting Failure'' (1926) * '' Slightly Married'' (1932, as Mary McCarthy) * ''Ships of Chance'' (1932, never filmed) * ''Woman Unafraid'' (1934, story and screenplay) * ''I Hate Women'' (1934, screenplay) * ''

Life Returns ''Life Returns'' is an American film directed by Eugene Frenke. The film stars Onslow Stevens, George P. Breakston and Lois Wilson with a plot that involves a doctor who is convinced that the dead can be brought back to life gets the chance to pr ...

'' (1934, additional dialogue; as Mary McCarthy) * '' Theodora Goes Wild'' (1935, story; as Mary McCarthy) * '' Irish Luck'' (1939, as Mary McCarthy) * '' Chasing Trouble'' (1940, as Mary McCarthy) * '' Sister Kenny'' (1946, as Mary McCarthy) * '' Curley'' (1947, additional dialogue; as Mary McCarthy)Hanson, Patricia King; Dunkleberger, Amy (1999).
American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States; Feature Films, 1941–1950
'. Berkeley CA: University of California Press. p.551. . * ''

The Petty Girl ''The Petty Girl'' (1950), known in the UK as ''Girl of the Year'', is a musical romantic comedy Technicolor film starring Robert Cummings and Joan Caulfield. Cummings portrays painter George Petty who falls for Victoria Braymore (Caulfield), ...

'' (1950, story; as Mary McCarthy)

References

External links

* * * The feature films
Irish Luck
' (1939),
Chasing Trouble
' (1940),
Sister Kenny
' (1946) are available for free download at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccarthy, Mary Eunice 1899 births 1969 deaths American women dramatists and playwrights American women screenwriters Screenwriters from California Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area Holy Names University alumni 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters