Hamilton MacFadden (April 26, 1901 – January 1, 1977) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

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 ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Early years

MacFadden's parents were Rev. Robert A. MacFadden and Edith Hamilton MacFadden. His father died in 1909, leaving his mother to support herself and four children. In 1928, she became the first woman to file papers to run for governor of Massachusetts.

Career

MacFadden was a 1925 graduate of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Soon after graduating, he became producer of the American Theatre Company, which presented plays for 10 weeks in the Boston area. The project was backed by Michael Strange, a writer who made her professional stage debut in the productions. He also served as director of the Community Arts Association in Santa Barbara, California, and the Theatre Guild School of Acting in New York. Plays that MacFadden produced on Broadway included '' Gods of the Lightning'' and ''La Gringa''. After starting out on Broadway in the 1920s, he moved into filmmaking in Hollywood. During the early 1930s he was a contract director at Fox. McFadden made a number of films for them including several early entries in the

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan ...

series such as '' Charlie Chan Carries On'' (1931). He was released from his Fox contract following the 1934 merger with

Twentieth Century Pictures Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film, independent Cinema of the United States, Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Joseph Schenck (the former president of United Artists) and Darryl F. Za ...

. Thereafter he mixed occasional directing jobs with a number of small supporting appearances in films. Later in his career, MacFadden was associate chief of the United States Department of State's international motion picture division.

Personal life

MacFadden married actress Violet Dunn on March 30, 1929, in New York City. She obtained a divorce from him on September 20, 1933. On September 29, 1934, he married actress Ruth Channing in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

; they were divorced in 1949. He married actress Vada Roberts Ward on October 29, 1949, in

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

Selected filmographyP

Director

* '' Harmony at Home'' (1930) * '' Crazy That Way'' (1930) * '' Oh, For a Man!'' (1930) * '' Are You There?'' (1930) * '' Charlie Chan Carries On'' (1931) * '' The Black Camel'' (1931) * '' Riders of the Purple Sage'' (1931) * '' Charlie Chan's Greatest Case'' (1933) * '' As Husbands Go'' (1934) * '' Stand Up and Cheer!'' (1934) * '' Sea Racketeers'' (1937) * '' The Legion of Missing Men'' (1937) * '' Escape by Night'' (1937) * '' It Can't Last Forever'' (1937) * '' Inside the Law'' (1942)

Actor

* '' The Black Camel'' (1931) - Val Martino (uncredited) * '' Keep Smiling'' (1938) - Director (uncredited) * '' Time Out for Murder'' (1938) - One of the Reporters (uncredited) * '' Touchdown, Army'' (1938) - Coach Shelby (uncredited) * '' Five of a Kind'' (1938) - Andrew Gordon * '' Tarnished Angel'' (1938) - Reverend Summers * '' Sharpshooters'' (1938) - Bowman * '' While New York Sleeps'' (1938) - Pete - Reporter (uncredited) * '' Pardon Our Nerve'' (1939) - Announcer (uncredited) * '' Unmarried'' (1939) - Assistant Coach (uncredited) * '' Charlie Chan in Reno'' (1939) - Night Clerk * '' The Jones Family in Hollywood'' (1939) - Townsend - Director * '' Chicken Wagon Family'' (1939) - Auctioneer * '' Shooting High'' (1940) - J. Wallace Rutledge * '' The Lady in Question'' (1940) - Guard (uncredited) * '' Pier 13'' (1940) - Reporter (uncredited) * '' Yesterday's Heroes'' (1940) - Reporter (uncredited) * '' Michael Shayne, Private Detective'' (1940) - Reporter (uncredited) * '' The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941) - Himself * '' Ride, Kelly, Ride'' (1941) - Race Track Steward * '' Sleepers West'' (1941) - Conductor Meyers * '' Dressed to Kill'' (1941) - Reporter * '' Charlie Chan in Rio'' (1941) - Bill Kellogg * '' Young America'' (1942) - Jim Benson * '' Wilson'' (1944) - Minor Role (uncredited) (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacFadden, Hamilton 1901 births 1977 deaths American male screenwriters American male film actors Film directors from Massachusetts Male actors from Boston 20th-century American male actors Writers from Boston Screenwriters from Massachusetts Harvard University alumni 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters