Frances Goodrich (December 21, 1890 – January 29, 1984) was an American actress, dramatist, and screenwriter, best known for her collaborations with her partner and husband Albert Hackett. She received the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

with her husband in 1956 for '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' which had premiered the previous year.

Early life

Goodrich was born in Belleville, New Jersey, the second daughter of five children, of Madeleine Christy (née Lloyd) and Henry Wickes Goodrich. The family moved to nearby Nutley, New Jersey when Goodrich was two. She attended Collegiate School in Passaic, New Jersey, and graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

in 1912, and attended the New York School of Social Work from 1912 to 1913, but left to become an actress in Henry Miller's productions. In 1924 she appeared in George Kelly's play, ''The Show Off''.

Career

Soon after she left the New York School of Social Work, Goodrich began the acting portion of her career at the Players Club in New York City. From there she went to Northampton, Massachusetts, where she acted in stock theater. Her acting credits on Broadway included ''Perkins'' (1918), ''Daddy Long Legs'' (1918), ''Fashions for Men'' (1922), ''Queen Victoria'' (1923), ''A Good Bad Woman'' (1925), ''Skin Deep'' (1927), and ''Excess Baggage'' (1927). For the summer of 1928, Goodrich joined the summer stock cast at Denver's Elitch Theatre.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6042 Goodrich showed Hackett a script she had written, entitled ''Such A Lady'', and they rewrote it together. This was the beginning of their collaboration. Not long after marrying Hackett, the couple settled in 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 them until 1939. Among their early assignments was writing the screenplay for ''

The Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...

'' (1934). They were encouraged by director W.S. Van Dyke to use the writing of

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...

as a basis only and to concentrate on providing witty exchanges for the principal characters,

Nick and Nora Charles Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel ''The Thin Man''. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of films between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 19 ...

(played by

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Born in Helena, Monta ...

). The resulting film was one of the major hits of the year, and the script was considered to show a modern relationship in a realistic manner for the first time. The couple 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), as well as nominations for ''

In the Good Old Summertime IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

'' (1949), ''Father of the Bride'' (1950) and '' The Long, Long Trailer'' (1954). They also won a

for their 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

Hackett and Goodrich met at Elitch Theatre in 1928 when they were both in the summer stock cast. Goodrich and Hackett remained married until her death. Goodrich was Jewish. Muckraking writer

Henry Demarest Lloyd Henry Demarest Lloyd (May 1, 1847 – September 28, 1903) was an American journalist and political activist who was a prominent muckraker during the Progressive Era. He is best known for his exposés of Standard Oil which were written before Ida ...

was Goodrich's uncle.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodrich, Frances 1890 births 1984 deaths American women screenwriters Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) People from Belleville, New Jersey People from Nutley, New Jersey Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Vassar College alumni Columbia University School of Social Work alumni American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers Screenwriters from New Jersey Tony Award winners Jewish American screenwriters 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American actresses American stage actresses Broadway theatre people Writers from Essex County, New Jersey Actors from Essex County, New Jersey Actresses from New Jersey