Joseph White Farnham (December 2, 1884 – June 2, 1931) was an American
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
,
film writer, and
film editor
Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...
of the
silent movie era in the 1920s. He was also a founding member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
.
Biography
Born in
New Haven
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
in 1884, Farnham got his start in film through his business relationship with
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
impresarios
Gustave and
Daniel Frohman who owned The Frohman Amusement Corp. ''
The Big Parade'' is probably the most famous of his works adapted to film. In the
1st Academy Awards of 1929, nominees could be considered for an Oscar for an award on the basis of multiple films within the year. Joseph won his
Best Writing - Title Cards award for the films ''
The Fair Co-Ed''; ''
Laugh, Clown, Laugh''; and ''
Telling the World''.
This was the only year that an Oscar for
title cards would be awarded.
Joseph Farnham was the very first Academy Award winner to die. He died in 1931 of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
while living 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, ...
and was interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles.
As of 2024, Glendale ha ...
.
Selected filmography
*''
Alias Jimmy Valentine'' (1920)
* ''
Bachelor Apartments'' (1921)
*''
The Country Flapper'' (1922)
*''
The Snitching Hour'' (1922)
*''
Greed'' (1924)
*''
Reckless Romance'' (1924)
*''
Soul Mates'' (1925)
*''
The Big Parade'' (1925)
*''
Stop Flirting'' (1925)
*''
The Blackbird'' (1926)
*''
Beverly of Graustark'' (1926)
*''
The Road to Mandalay'' (1926)
*''
The Show'' (1927)
*''
The Red Mill'' (1927)
*''
Slide, Kelly, Slide'' (1927)
*''
Rookies'' (1927)
*''
Becky'' (1927)
*''
London After Midnight'' (1927)
*''
The Unknown'' (1927)
*''
The Trail of '98'' (1928)
*''
Laugh, Clown, Laugh'' (1928)
*''
The Cameraman'' (1928)
*''
The Duke Steps Out'' (1929)
*''
Where East Is East'' (1929)
*''
The Unholy Night'' (1929)
*''
The Thirteenth Chair'' (1929)
*''
The Big House'' (1930)
References
External links
*
*
1884 births
1931 deaths
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
American male screenwriters
Writers from New Haven, Connecticut
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Screenwriters from Connecticut
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
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