Otis Love Guernsey Jr. (August 9, 1918 – May 2, 2001) was an American journalist, writer, and editor of books about theatre. He was a former arts editor of the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...
'' and edited 36 volumes of the ''Best Plays'' series (formally ''The Best Plays Theater Yearbook'').
Guernsey had the idea which influenced the plot of
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
's 1959 thriller ''
North by Northwest
''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
''. Guernsey was inspired by a true story during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
when
British Intelligence
The Government of the United Kingdom maintains several intelligence agencies that deal with secret intelligence. These agencies are responsible for collecting, analysing and exploiting foreign and domestic intelligence, providing military intell ...
obtained a dead body, invented a
fictitious officer who was carrying secret papers, and arranged for the body and misleading papers to be discovered by the Germans as a disinformation scheme called
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British disinformation, deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who die ...
. Guernsey turned his idea into a story about an American salesman who travels to the Middle East and is mistaken for a fictitious agent, becoming "saddled with a romantic and dangerous identity". Guernsey admitted that his treatment was full of "corn" and "lacking logic", and he urged Hitchcock to do what he liked with the story. Hitchcock bought the 60 pages for $10,000.
Guernsey was inducted into the
American Theater Hall of Fame
The American Theater Hall of Fame was founded in 1972 in New York City. The first head of its executive committee was Earl Blackwell. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the Uris Theatre, ...
on January 29, 2001.
His father was
Otis Guernsey
Otis Guernsey (June 16, 1893 – March 4, 1975) was an American businessman and college football player who was the president of Abercrombie & Fitch and a fullback for the Yale Bulldogs football team.
Early life
Guernsey was born on June 16, 18 ...
a college footballer and later CEO of
Abercrombie & Fitch.
[https://playbill.com/article/otis-guernsey-jr-theatre-writer-and-best-plays-contributor-dead-at-82-com-96416 ]
References
External links
* ''Brief profile with portrait''
1918 births
2001 deaths
New York Herald Tribune people
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