Carol Ann "Cari" Beauchamp (;
September 12, 1949 – December 14, 2023) was an American author, historian, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. She authored the biography ''Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood'', which was subsequently made into a documentary film. She was the resident scholar of the
Mary Pickford Foundation.
Background
Carol Ann Beauchamp was born on September 12, 1949, in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, and grew up in
Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...
.
After graduating with a BA in political science and American history from San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
in 1972, she intended to go to law school, but instead spent the next 6 years as a private investigator for defense attorneys,[Krista Smith (April 29, 2010]
"How Classic Film Can Cure Anxiety: "Switch From MSNBC to TCM"
, ''Vanity Fair''. Retrieved September 18, 2013. including Barney Drefus and Charles Garry, and the Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County, serving as lead investigator on several major class action suits.[
Simultaneously, she became involved in the Women's Rights Movement and was elected the first President of National Women's Political Caucus of California in 1973. She also managed a variety of election campaigns throughout the 1970s including for ]Janet Gray Hayes
Janet Gray Hayes (July 12, 1926 – April 21, 2014) was the 60th Mayor#United States, mayor of San Jose, California, elected to two consecutive, four-year terms from 1975 to 1983. She was both the first woman to be elected mayor San Jose, and ...
, who was elected mayor of San Jose in 1976, the first woman in the country to be mayor of a city of over 500,000. Beauchamp also spent several years working in Washington DC with Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug and many others on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment before returning to California in 1979 to serve as press secretary to Governor Jerry Brown.
Career
Author
After a year of working in Europe and several years in New York, she took time off to give birth to two sons. While pregnant with her second son, she signed her first book contract, which resulted in ''Hollywood on the Riviera: The Inside Story of the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
'' with Henri Behar, published by William Morrow & Co.
In 1998, she wrote ''Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood'', published by Scribner and the University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
. The book examines the lives of Frances Marion
Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens; November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...
(Oscar-winning screenwriter of '' The Big House'' and '' The Champ'') and many of her female colleagues who shaped filmmaking from the 1920s through the 1940s.[Lynda Obst (May 18, 1997]
Books: Oscars for Doorstops
, ''The New York Times''. Retrieved September 18, 2013. ''Without Lying Down'' was named one of the 100 Most Notable Books of the Year by both ''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 ...
'' and the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' and was awarded ''Book of the Year'' by the National Theater Arts Association.
In 2003 came ''Anita Loos
Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...
Rediscovered'', which was edited and annotated by Beauchamp and Mary Anita Loos (Anita Loos' niece). Published by University of California Press, the book compiles samples of Loos's previously unpublished work as well as the personal life and work of novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, author of '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', as well as several other books and dozens of plays and screenplays. In 2006, University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
released ''Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary: Her Private Letters from Inside the Studios of the 1920s'' by Valeria Belletti, edited and annotated by Beauchamp, with a foreword by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., chronicling an insider's view of the film studios of the 1920s from a secretary's perspective. In 2009, Beauchamp wrote ''Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Years'' published by Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...
and Vintage Books
Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...
. The book examines Joseph P. Kennedy's reign in Hollywood, where he held sway over the industry from 1926 to 1930 as the only person to head three studios simultaneously.
Documentary
Beauchamp wrote and co-produced the documentary film ''Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood'', which premiered in 2000 on Turner Classic Movies, and for which she was nominated for a Writers' Guild Award. She also wrote the documentary film ''The Day My God Died'' about young girls of Nepal sold into sexual slavery which played on PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and was nominated for an Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
in 2003. She also appeared as an expert on film history in a half dozen other documentaries including Mark Cousins' production of '' The Story of Film: An Odyssey''.
Journalist and film historian
Beauchamp wrote for various magazines and newspapers, including '' Vanity Fair'', '' Variety'', ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', ''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 ...
'', and the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''.
Beauchamp was a frequent featured speaker on the subject of Women and Hollywood History, appearing throughout the United States and Europe, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
, the British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, the Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, the Edinburgh Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival.
EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...
, the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, The Women's Museum of Art in Washington D.C. and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
.
Beauchamp was named the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
Film Scholar twice[Kate Erbland (May 16, 2012]
"Film Historian Cari Beauchamp Appointed Resident Scholar of Mary Pickford Foundation"
, MSN Entertainment. Retrieved September 18, 2013. and was a resident scholar of the Mary Pickford Foundation.
Personal life and death
Beauchamp was married twice, and had two sons.[ She died at ]Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
in Los Angeles on December 14, 2023, at the age of 74.
Works
*''Anita Loos Rediscovered: Film Treatments and Fiction by Anita Loos, Creator of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''
:Author: Anita Loos
Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...
:Editors: Cari Beauchamp, Mary Loos
:Publisher : University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
, 2003
:
*''Mary Pickford, Queen of the Silent Film Era: A Life in Stills''
:Author: George A. Walker
:Foreword: Cari Beauchamp
:Publisher : The Porcupine's Quill, 2020
:
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauchamp, Cari
1949 births
2023 deaths
20th-century American historians
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American historians
21st-century American women writers
American biographers
American documentary film producers
American women biographers
American women historians
Journalists from California
People from Stockton, California
San Jose State University alumni