Orville H. Hampton | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1917-05-21)May 21, 1917 Rockford, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1997(1997-08-08) (aged 80) Los Angeles, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) |
| Other names | Owen Harris Orville Hampton |
| Education | University of Illinois |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1950–1984 |
Orville H. Hampton (May 21, 1917 – August 8, 1997) was anAmerican screenwriter who worked mostly inlow-budget films, particularly for producersRobert E. Kent andEdward Small. A screenplay that he and Raphael Hayes wrote forOne Potato, Two Potato (1964) was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Hampton was born inRockford, Illinois, and attended theUniversity of Illinois, where he studiedchemistry andjournalism. After college, he worked as a radio announcer before serving in theArmy during World War II.[1] Following the war, Hampton settled inHollywood, where from 1950 onward he became a prolific screenwriter, scripting or co-writing more than 100 films and television episodes, mainlyB-movies and genre films. In 1964, Hampton, along with co-writer Raphael Hayes, received anAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Screenplay forOne Potato, Two Potato.[2]
During his long career, Hampton worked on television programs includingThe Lone Ranger,The Adventures of Champion,Perry Mason (andThe New Perry Mason),Hawaii Five-O,Lassie,The Six Million Dollar Man andMission: Impossible. Though he wrote films and television shows in many genres—includingfilm noir (Motor Patrol),science fiction (The Atomic Submarine),crime fiction (Detroit 9000),horror (The Alligator People),blaxploitation (Friday Foster),mystery (Lady in the Fog akaScotland Yard Inspector), andwesterns (Gunfighters of Abilene)--, Hampton is probably best remembered for his scripts which addressed race relations, particularlyOne Potato, Two Potato (which depicts aninterracial marriage in the 1960s) and his two films with directorArthur Marks,Detroit 9000 andFriday Foster (which starredPam Grier,Yaphet Kotto,Eartha Kitt,Scatman Crothers andCarl Weathers).
Fellow screenwriterC. Jack Lewis recalled in his 2002 bookWhite Horse, Black Hat, that Hampton used thepen name "Owen Harris" in his later career—when he was a regular writer forColumbia Pictures—in an effort to distance himself from his days a "Poverty Row screenwriter." He remembered Hampton as a writer who "wasn't too proud to work at something else, when necessary", pointing to Hampton's credits as dialogue supervisor, additional dialogue writer, and dialogue director in the 1950s.[3]
Hampton died on August 8, 1997, inMalibu, California.[3][1]
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