Aleen Leslie (née Wetstein; February 5, 1908 – February 2, 2010) was a

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. ...

, playwright, and novelist. She died in 2010, three days before her 102nd birthday. At that time, she was the oldest member of the Writers Guild of American-West. She is perhaps best known for the ''

A Date with Judy ''A Date with Judy'' is a comedy radio series aimed at a teenage audience which ran from 1941 to 1950. The series was co-created by Jerome Lawrence and Aleen Leslie, and based on Leslie's “One Girl Chorus” column in the Pittsburgh Press. La ...

'' media franchise. Leslie was also the author of the novels '' The Scent of the Roses'' and ''The Windfall'', and wrote various plays for the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...

Biography

Aleen Wetstein was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of Nat Wetstein (a traveling salesman) and Eugenie Mandel (a dressmaker). She began attending Ohio State University, but dropped out during the Great Depression. After becoming secretary of the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, she began writing a weekly column called "One Girl Chorus" for ''

The Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'' (formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'') was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...

''. The column was eventually adapted by Wetstein and

Jerome Lawrence Jerome Lawrence (born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz; July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence pa ...

as a radio domestic comedy titled ''

'', which she adapted and exploited across all entertainment forms possible at that time, including theatre, film, television, and comic books. Wetstein moved permanently to Hollywood in the late 1930s, and by 1938, she had talked her way into a job at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Her first screen credit was a

Charley Chase Charles Joseph Parrott (October 20, 1893 – June 20, 1940), known professionally as Charley Chase, was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. He worked for many pioneering comedy studios but is chiefly associated with pro ...

comedy short, ''The Nightshirt Bandit'' (1938). She wrote stories and screenplays for Columbia features through 1941, returning to the studio briefly in 1949. She married Jacques Leslie and in 1941 she began using her married name on scripts. Based on her success with ''A Date with Judy'', she built a career writing teen-driven entertainment like ''

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour ''Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Hugh Bennett and written by Edwin Blum and Aleen Leslie. The film stars Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Diana Lynn and Frances Gifford. The fi ...

'' and ''

Father Was a Fullback ''Father Was a Fullback'' is a 1949 black-and-white film from 20th Century Fox based on a comedy by Clifford Goldsmith. The film is about a college American football star and his woes. The film stars Fred MacMurray, Maureen O'Hara, Natalie Wood, ...

''. In 1938 she had submitted a story to

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

as a possible vehicle for

Deanna Durbin Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With t ...

; it was accepted but shelved, and was finally filmed in 1942 as a vehicle for

Gloria Jean Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover; April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub app ...

, '' It Comes Up Love'' (released 1943). Her last screen credit was ''Pardon My Nightshirt'' (1956), an Andy Clyde short based on the 1938 script ''The Nightshirt Bandit'' signed Aleen Wetstein; she did not participate in the rewrite, and was credited for the original story as Aleen Leslie.

Selected filmography

* ''The Nightshirt Bandit'' (short, 1938) * '' The Doctor Takes a Wife'' (1940) * ''

Affectionately Yours ''Affectionately Yours'' is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Merle Oberon, Dennis Morgan, and Rita Hayworth. Plot Foreign correspondent Rickey Mayberry (Dennis Morgan) hurriedly flies back from Portu ...

'' (1941) * ''

The Stork Pays Off ''The Stork Pays Off'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Lew Landers and written by Fanya Foss and Aleen Leslie. The film stars Victor Jory, Rochelle Hudson, Maxie Rosenbloom, Horace McMahon, George McKay and Ralf Harolde. The fil ...

'' (1941) * '' It Comes Up Love'' (1943) * ''

'' (1943) * ''

Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid ''Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Hugh Bennett and written by Muriel Roy Bolton and Val Burton. The film stars Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Diana Lynn and Vaughan Glaser. The film ...

'' (1944) * ''

Henry Aldrich's Little Secret ''Henry Aldrich's Little Secret'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Hugh Bennett and written by Val Burton and Aleen Leslie. The film stars Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Tina Thayer and Ann Doran. The film was ...

'' (1944) * ''

Rosie the Riveter Rosie the Riveter is an allegorical cultural icon in the United States who represents the women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new ...

'' (1944) * ''

'' (1948) * ''

'' (1949) * ''

Father Is a Bachelor ''Father Is a Bachelor'' is a 1950 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Abby Berlin and Norman Foster. It stars William Holden and Coleen Gray. Plot Carefree vagabond Johnny Rutledge is stuck in a small town when his medicine show ...

'' (1950) * ''The Living North'' (1956) * ''Pardon My Nightshirt'' (short, 1956)

References

External links

*
Deadline.com

''Hollywood Reporter'' obit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Aleen 1908 births 2010 deaths Ohio State University alumni Writers from Pittsburgh American centenarians Screenwriters from Pennsylvania American women screenwriters Women centenarians 21st-century American women