Albert Maurice Hackett (February 16, 1900 – March 16, 1995) was an American actor,
dramatist
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just
reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...
and
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 ...
most noted for his collaborations with his partner and wife
Frances Goodrich. Their film work includes the first three instalments in the ''
Thin Man'' series,
''
It's a Wonderful Life'', ''
Easter Parade'', ''
Father of the Bride'' and ''
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''.
They won a
Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the
New York Drama Critics' Circle award for their play ''
The Diary of Anne Frank''. They received four nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...
.
Early years
Hackett was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
the son of actress
Florence Hackett (née Hart) and Maurice Hackett. He attended
Professional Children's School and started out as a child actor, appearing on stage and in films. His brother was actor
Raymond Hackett. Their stepfather was the early film actor
Arthur V. Johnson, who married their mother Florence around 1910. His sister-in-law was
Blanche Sweet
Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the early days of the motion picture film industry.
Early life
Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first name Sarah was ra ...
, Raymond's second wife.
Career
Hackett acted in many films, including ''
Anne of Green Gables'' (1919).
His Broadway credits as a performer include ''Mr. and Mrs. North'' (1941), ''Up Pops the Devil'' (1930), ''Mirrors'' (1928), ''Off-Key'' (1927), ''Twelve Miles Out'' (1925), ''The Nervous Wreck'' (1923), ''Up the Ladder'' (1922), ''Just a Woman'' (1914) and ''The Happy Marriage'' (1909). His Broadway credits as a writer include ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1955 and 1997), ''The Great Big Doorstep'' (1942), ''Bridal Wise'' (1932), ''Everybody's Welcome'' (1931) and ''Up Pops the Devil'' (1930).
For the summer of 1928, Hackett joined the summer stock cast at Denver's
Elitch Theatre. Fellow cast member,
Frances Goodrich, showed him a script she had written, entitled ''Such A Lady'', and they rewrote it together. This was the beginning of their collaboration.
Soon after marrying screenwriter
Frances Goodrich, the couple moved to
Hollywood in the late 1920s to write the screenplay for their stage success ''Up Pops the Devil'' for
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
. In 1933, they signed a contract with
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
and remained with the studio until 1939. Among their earliest assignments was writing the screenplay for ''
The Thin Man'' (1934). They were encouraged by
director W. S. Van Dyke to use the writing of
Dashiell Hammett as a basis only and to concentrate on providing witty exchanges for the principal characters,
Nick and Nora Charles (played by
William Powell and
Myrna Loy). The resulting film became one of the year's major hits, and the script, considered to show a modern relationship in a realistic manner for the first time, was considered groundbreaking, although it preceded enforcement of the
Motion Picture Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the Cinema of the United States, United States from 1934 to 1968. It ...
.
Recognition
The Hacketts received
Academy Award for Screenplay nominations for ''The Thin Man'', ''
After the Thin Man'' (1936), ''
Father of the Bride'' (1950) and ''
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (1955).
They won
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...
awards for ''
Easter Parade'' (1949), ''
Father's Little Dividend'' (1951), ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (1954) and ''
The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and were nominated for ''
In the Good Old Summertime'' (1949), ''Father of the Bride'' (1950) and ''
The Long, Long Trailer'' (1954). They also won a
Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the
New York Drama Critics' Circle award for their original play ''
The Diary of Anne Frank''. Some of their other films include ''
Another Thin Man'' (1939) and ''
It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946).
Personal life
In 1985, one year after Goodrich's death, Hackett married Gisella Svetlik, a former dancer who had appeared in the original Broadway productions of ''
Kiss Me, Kate'', ''
Carousel'', ''Follow the Girls'', ''
Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!'' and ''
Paint Your Wagon''.
She was the widow of theatrical agent and Emmy Award-winning ''
The Phil Silvers Show'' writer Harvey Orkin. Svetlik and Hackett were together until his death in 1995. She died in 2012.
Filmography
References
*
*
* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 16.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Albert
1900 births
1995 deaths
American male screenwriters
Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American male actors
American male stage actors
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male child actors
Male actors from New York City
20th-century American screenwriters