Becky Gardiner (born Rebeckah McCormick McLean; April 24, 1886; year of death unknown) was an American screenwriter and actress active in the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for writing screenplays that focused on women.[1]
Becky Gardiner | |
|---|---|
.png) In The Film Daily Year Book 1928 | |
| Born | Rebeckah McCormick McLean April 24, 1886 Maryland, US |
| Education | Brearley School Sorbonne University |
| Occupations | Screenwriter, actress |
| Spouses | John D. W. Gardiner
(m. 1909; died 1936)Thomas H. Gillespie (m. 1949) |
| Parent(s) | Donald McLean (father) Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean (mother) |
| Relatives | Albert Ritchie (cousin) |
Biography
editGardiner was born into a prominent Maryland family; her father, Donald McLean, was a lawyer, and his wife, Emily Nelson Ritchie, was related to Maryland Gov. Albert Ritchie.[2][3] On June 12, 1909,[4] she married writer John D. W. Gardiner; they had one daughter, Emily, who became an author as well.[5]
John died in 1936, and she remarried to Thomas H. Gillespie on March 16, 1949.[6][7]
Gardiner got her start as an actress in New York City, performing in small roles in the early 1910s under the name Becky Bruce.[8][9][10] She turned her attention to writing in the 1920s, studying in Paris at the Sorbonne and writing a column called "Footlights and Studio Lamps" for The Evening Sun; she eventually went under contract at Famous Players–Lasky, where she was the only woman on the East Coast writing staff.[5][11] She also worked at Fox and Paramount.[8]
Films for which Gardiner wrote adaptations included Sea Horses (1926) and Padlocked (1926).[12] She also wrote the scenario for War Nurse (1930).[13]
Her date of death is unknown.
Selected filmography
edit- The Great Gatsby (1926)
- Padlocked (1926)
- Sea Horses (1926)
- Cabaret (1927)
- Love's Greatest Mistake (1927)
- New York (1927)
- Square Crooks (1928)
- The Sin Sister (1929)
- The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
- War Nurse (1930)
- A Free Soul (1931)
- Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931)
- Coming Out Party (1934)
- Stingaree (1934)
References
edit- ↑ Nelmes, Jill (October 4, 2010). Analysing the Screenplay. Routledge. ISBN 9781136912450.
- ↑ "Snapshots of the Gay World in All Centers". The Washington Post. January 30, 1914. p. 7. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Vivacious Visitor in Cinema Circles". Los Angeles Times. April 10, 1927. p. 50. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Becomes a Soldier's Bride". The Tennessean. Tennessee, Nashville. June 13, 1909. p. 16. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Maryland Girl Wins Fame as Script Writer". The Baltimore Sun. New York. February 28, 1926. pp. 85, 88. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Deaths: Gardiner". The Baltimore Sun. February 13, 1936. p. 17. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Weddings: Gillespie-Gardiner". The News. Frederick, Maryland. April 2, 1949. p. 5. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Eventful Career for Scenarist". Calgary Herald. March 17, 1927. p. 6. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Charming 'Prunella' at Little Theater". Brooklyn Eagle. October 27, 1913. p. 7. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Darnton, Charles (November 8, 1913). Written at New York. "The New Plays". Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock (published November 9, 1913). p. 41. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Parsons, Louella O. (October 29, 1926). "Actress Loves Work; Refuses to Fete Queen". Tampa Bay Times. New York (published October 30, 1926). p. 34. Retrieved February 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Lombardi, Frederic (2013). Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios. McFarland. p. 337. ISBN 9780786490400. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ↑ Villecco, Tony (2015). Silent Stars Speak: Interviews with Twelve Cinema Pioneers. McFarland. p. 144. ISBN 9780786482092. Retrieved March 16, 2019.