Gabrielle Upton (July 6, 1921 – September 13, 2022) was a Canadian-born American screenwriter and actress, best known for her writing work on the 1959 film ''

Gidget Gidget () is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner (based on his teenage daughter, Kathy) in his 1957 novel, ''Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas''. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friend ...

'', as well television shows such as ''

The Loretta Young Show ''The Loretta Young Show'' (originally known as ''Letter to Loretta'') is an American anthology drama television series broadcast on Sunday nights from September 2, 1953, to June 4, 1961, on NBC for a total of 165 episodes. The series was hoste ...

'', ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member ...

'', and '' The Virginian''.

Life and career

Upton was born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

on July 6, 1921. By 1953, Upton had turned from acting to screenwriting, a move that spawned more offers of work for her in television, film and radio. During the 1950s, Upton worked in the United Kingdom, writing scripts for the

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

Douglas Fairbanks Presents ''Douglas Fairbanks Presents'' is a 1953–1956 syndicated half-hour dramatic anthology series. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was the host, and he sometimes starred in episodes. It was also known as ''Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents''. A total of 157 epi ...

''. Her husband was actor turned sound man Julian Upton, who was also born in Vancouver. He predeceased her in 2016, aged 94. She died in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

on September 13, 2022, at the age of 101.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, Gabrielle 1921 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers American women centenarians American women screenwriters Screenwriters from California