John Evans Hunter (23 August 1911 – 8 September 1984) was an American-born,

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-nominated screenwriter in the British film industry.

Biography

The son of actress Millicent Evans (1888–1952) and producer/director Ernest J. Carpenter (1869–1964), Hunter was born in New York on 23 August 1911. He later claimed to be the illegitimate son of

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

. His parents divorced in 1917 and his mother married director T. Hayes Hunter in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1919. He graduated from Hollywood High School in 1927 and the family moved to England, where Hunter attended

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. At Trinity, he was a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club and an editor of the college paper. Hunter began his career while still a Trinity student, as a screenwriter for '' Smashing Through'' (1929) and an actor in ''Varsity'' (1930, as J. Evans Hunter). After graduating with Third-Class Honours he began a successful career as a screenwriter, most notably with

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

. He is best known for 1955's

nominated '' Carrington VC'', starring David Niven and Noelle Middleton, and the controversial 1960 '' Never Take Sweets from a Stranger''. Although Hunter married after leaving university, he was Guy Burgess's lover while they were both students at Cambridge. Subsequently divorced, his longtime partner Michael Ronan had served time in a British jail for his sexuality.Purvis, Stewart; Hulbert, Jeff (2016). ''Guy Burgess: The Spy Who Knew Everyone''. London: Biteback Publishing. . Hunter died in London in 1984.

Selected filmography

* ''

Luck of the Turf ''Luck of the Turf'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Randall Faye and starring Jack Melford, Moira Lynd, Wally Patch and Moore Marriott. It was made at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton-upon-Thames, Walton as a quota quickie for releas ...

'' (1936) * '' Blind Folly'' (1939) * ''

The Rossiter Case ''The Rossiter Case'' is a 1951 British B movie, second feature ('B') crime film directed by Francis Searle and starring Helen Shingler, Clement McCallin, Sheila Burrell and Stanley Baker in a small role. It was written by John Hunter (screenwr ...

'' (1951) * '' Honeymoon Deferred'' (1951) * '' Never Look Back'' (1952) * '' The Intruder'' (1953) * '' Carrington V.C.'' (1955) * '' Behind the Mask'' (1958) * '' Never Take Sweets from a Stranger'' (1960) * '' The Pirates of Blood River'' (1962)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, John 1911 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century English screenwriters Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge American emigrants to the United Kingdom American expatriates in England American LGBTQ screenwriters Screenwriters from New York City