Jules Furthman | |
|---|---|
 Jules Furthman (left) and actorWilliam Russell in 1919 | |
| Born | (1888-03-05)March 5, 1888 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | September 22, 1966(1966-09-22) (aged 78) Oxford,Oxfordshire, England |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, director and producer |
| Years active | 1915–1959 |
| Spouse | Sybil Seely (m. 1920-1966) |
| Children | 1 |
Jules Furthman (March 5, 1888 – September 22, 1966) was an American magazine and newspaper writer before working as ascreenwriter.Pauline Kael once wrote that Furthman "has written about half of the most entertaining movies to come out of Hollywood (Ben Hecht wrote most of the other half)."[1]
Furthman was born inChicago. His brother was the writer Charles Furthman. DuringWorld War I he wrote under thepen name "Stephen Fox" as he thought Furthman sounded too German.[2]
He wrote screenplays for a number of important or popular films, includingThe Docks of New York (1928),Thunderbolt (1929),Merely Mary Ann (1931),Shanghai Express (1932),Bombshell (1933),Mutiny on the Bounty (1935),Come and Get It (1936),Only Angels Have Wings (1939),To Have and Have Not (1944),The Big Sleep (1946), andNightmare Alley (1947). He wrote credited screenplays for eight films directed byJosef von Sternberg and an equal number forHoward Hawks.[3]
He was nominated for anAcademy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay forMutiny on the Bounty.[4]
In 1920, he married the actressSybil Seely, who played in five films directed byBuster Keaton. She and Furthman had a son in 1921, and she retired from acting in 1922. They remained together until his death.[5]
Furthman died of acerebral hemorrhage in 1966 inOxford,Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. His remains were brought home and interred inForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery inGlendale, California.[6]
On the UK television programScene By Scene, hostMark Cousins said, "Furthman wrote some of your best lines and he also wrote for her (Marlene Dietrich), those sort of, sexy and ambiguous lines."Lauren Bacall replied, "He did? Well, that I didn't know. I asked Howard Hawks once, why he used Furthman; as he didn't write the entire screenplay. And he (Hawks) said, 'If there are five ways to play a scene, he (Furthman) will write a sixth way.' And of course, that makes perfect sense and that's exactly what Furthman did. He always came around the back way and suddenly there was a little surprise there."[7]
