Mary McCarthy (not to be confused with another screenwriter—

Mary Eunice McCarthy Mary Eunice McCarthy (March 4, 1899 – August 7, 1969) was an American screenwriter, playwright, journalist and author, perhaps best known today as the screenwriter of, and driving force behind, the biopic '' Sister Kenny'' (1946).Cohn, Victor ...

) 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 ...

active in the 1930s and 1940s."Irish Mary McCarthy Does Unpredictable Things"
''The Tampa Tribune''. July 30, 1939. p. 36. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

Biography

Born and raised in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, to Irish parents (just like the similarly named screenwriter), McCarthy pursued a career as a schoolteacher in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, before giving it all up to run a nonprofit sandwich stand. She then became a political activist, stumping the state for the Democratic Party and going toe-to-toe with the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. Eventually she headed to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

to pursue a career as a

scenarist 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 ...

in the mid-1930s; her first big credit was on ''

Theodora Goes Wild ''Theodora Goes Wild'' is a 1936 American screwball comedy film that tells the story of the residents in a small town who are incensed by a risqué novel, unaware that the book was written under a pseudonym by a member of the town's leading fami ...

'', a 1936 comedy starring

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during Classical Hollywood cinema, the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she perf ...

Selected filmography

*''

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 ...

'' (1935) *''

'' (1936) *''

Amateur Detective Fictional detectives are characters in detective fiction. These individuals have long been a staple of detective mystery crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories. Much of early detective fiction was written during the "G ...

'' (1939) *''

Sister Kenny ''Sister Kenny'' is a 1946 American biographical film about Sister Elizabeth Kenny, an Australian bush nurse, who fought to help people who suffered from polio, despite opposition from the medical establishment. The film stars Rosalind Russell, ...

'' (1946) *''

Curley Curley is a surname, given name, nickname or stage name. It may refer to: Surname * August Curley (born 1960), American football player * Arthur Curley (1938–1998), American librarian * Barney Curley (1939–2021), Irish racehorse trainer * ...

'' (1947)

References

* Bennett, Buford Gordon (April 20, 1925)
"Two Sketches Top This Week's Bill at the Orpheum; Mary Carr Stars in Playlet by S.F. Writer"
''The San Francisco Examiner''. p. 11
"With Universal"
''Hollywood Filmograph''. September 3, 1932. p. 3
"'Theodora' to Swerling"
''The Hollywood Reporter''. May 1, 1935. p. 4
"Screen Writer Arrives at Mills"
(November 28, 1936). ''The San Mateo Times''. p. 2 * Safford, Virginia (November 2, 1943)
"Names Make News"
''The Minneapolis Star''. p. 17 * Coons, Robbin (January 13, 1944)
"Sister Kenny Gets Movie Treatment; Film Will Portray Her Work With Infantile Paralysis"
''Macon Chronicle-Herald''. p. 2
"Indian's Love on 'Matinee'"
''The Paducah Sun''. August 25, 1957. p. 38

Books

* Masterson, James; Eberly, Joyce E., editors (1959)
Writings on American History, 1957; Volume II of the Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1959
'. Washington, DC : U.S. Government Printing Office. 1959. p. 529 Year of birth missing Place of birth missing Year of death missing Place of death missing American women screenwriters Screenwriters from San Francisco 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers {{US-screen-writer-stub

Biography

Selected filmography

References

Further reading

Articles

Books