Ralph J. Block (June 21, 1889,

Cherokee, Iowa Cherokee is a city and the county seat of in Cherokee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,199 at the 2020 Census, down from 5,369 in 2000. History Cherokee was laid out as a town in 1870, and was named for the Southeast Indian ...

– January 2, 1974,

Wheaton, Maryland Wheaton is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, situated north of Washington, D.C., and northwest of downtown Silver Spring. Wheaton takes its name from Frank Wheaton (1833–1903), a career officer in the Uni ...

) was an American film producer in the 1920s and became a full-time screenwriter in 1930. He is most famous for being President of the

Screen Writers Guild The Screen Writers Guild was an organization of Hollywood screenplay authors, formed as a union in 1933. A rival organisation, Screen Playwrights, Inc., was established by the AMPP, film studios and producers, but after an appeal to the National ...

from 1934 to 1935. He received an

Honorary Academy Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienc ...

in 1940 for his dedicated work for the

Motion Picture Relief Fund The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

Biography

Block was born in the City of Cherokee in the Cherokee County of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

to E.S. and Doris Block (née Chraplewski).

Filmography

As producer

As Writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Ralph 1889 births 1974 deaths Film producers from Iowa Academy Honorary Award recipients Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild American male screenwriters University of Michigan alumni American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters