John Gay (April 1, 1924 – February 4, 2017) was an American screenwriter, born in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...

Career

Gay began his career writing episodes for television anthology series such as ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vi ...

'', ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...

'', and ''

Goodyear Television Playhouse ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' ...

''. He made his film screenwriting debut in 1956 with '' Run Silent, Run Deep''. Additional screen credits include '' Separate Tables'', '' Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'', '' The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', '' The Hallelujah Trail'', '' No Way to Treat a Lady'', '' Soldier Blue'', '' Sometimes a Great Notion'', and '' A Matter of Time''. For television, Gay has adapted numerous literary classics, including '' The Red Badge of Courage'', ''

Captains Courageous ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

'', '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'', ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'', and '' Around the World in 80 Days''. He also wrote television biopics of

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

, Caryl Chessman, and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

; small screen remakes of '' Dial M for Murder'', '' Witness for the Prosecution'', '' Inherit the Wind'', and ''

Shadow of a Doubt ''Shadow of a Doubt'' is a 1943 American psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an A ...

''; adaptations of the bestsellers '' Fatal Vision'' and ''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

'' by Joe McGinniss and '' The Burden of Proof'' by

Scott Turow Scott Frederick Turow (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow worked as a lawyer for a decade before writing full-time, and has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 la ...

; and the

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

'' A Piano for Mrs. Cimino'' starring

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

. Gay also wrote the one-man play ''Diversions and Delights'', in which

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

presents a lecture about his career to a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian audience in November 1899. With

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

portraying Wilde, the play premiered in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in July 1977 and toured more than 300 cities during the next three years.

Awards

Gay was nominated 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 ...

and the

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards, focused specifically for film. The Writers Guild of America began making the distinction between an original screenp ...

for ''Separate Tables''. He has been nominated once for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special and three times for the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

for Best Television Feature or Miniseries.

Memoir

Gay wrote the memoir ''Any Way I Can: 50 Years in Show Business'' with his daughter Jennifer Gay Summers.

Death

Gay died in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, on February 4, 2017, at age 92.'Separate Tables' Screenwriter John Gay Dies at 92
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, John 1924 births 2017 deaths American male screenwriters Television writers from California American memoirists Writers from Whittier, California American male television writers American male non-fiction writers