Katherine Albert
Katherine Albert (sometimes credited as Katherine Eunson, her married name) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and TV writer.
Katherine Albert | |
---|---|
Born | October 6, 1902 |
Died | July 26, 1970 (aged 67) |
Occupation | Screenwriter, TV writer |
Spouse(s) | Dale Eunson |
Children | Joan Evans |
Biography
Katherine was born in Kentucky, the only child of George Albert and Logie Bell Evans.[1] As a young girl, she dreamed of becoming an actress, and she persuaded a family friend who was related to D. W. Griffith to get her an introduction when she moved to California at age 16.[1] Griffith brought her onto his stock company, and she appeared in a few small roles on the stage and in silent films before deciding that acting wasn't for her.[1] The family moved away from Los Angeles for a time.
When she moved back to Hollywood in her early 20s, she began writing for publications like The Los Angeles Daily News and Photoplay before getting a job in MGM's publicity department.[1] Early on in that assignment, she was charged with working with Greta Garbo, who she apparently didn't get along well with.[2]
At MGM, she met Dale Eunson, who later become editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. The pair married in 1931, and together, they collaborated on a number of short stories, stage plays (including Loco, which ran on Broadway in 1946-47),[3] and screenplays.[1] Loco was later used, together with Zoe Akins' The Greeks Had a Word for It, as a source for the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire starring Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall.[3]
They had a daughter, Joan Eunson (aka Joan Evans), named after Joan Crawford, who became an actress and entertainment journalist.[4] Albert was encouraging of Joan's career, but preferred not to meddle: "I've had to work with a lot of movie mamas. Believe me, I want no part of that".[5]
She and Eunson wrote most of their films and TV episodes after Albert suffered a major heart attack around 1950. During the 1950s and 1960s, they wrote half a dozen films and over a dozen TV episodes. They worked almost all the way up through Albert's death in 1970.[6]
Selected works
Film
- Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)
- All Mine to Give (1957)
- Eighteen and Anxious (1957)
- Sabre Jet (1953)
- The Star (1952)
- On the Loose (1951)
Television
- Run for Your Life (1966–1968; two episodes)
- Karen (1965; one episode)
- Father of the Bride (1961; one episode)
- Leave It to Beaver (1959–1961; four episodes)
- The Rifleman (1959; one episode)
- General Electric Theater (1958–1961; three episodes)
- Buckskin (1958–1959; two episodes)
- Climax! (1957; one episode)
- TV Reader's Digest (1955; three episodes)
References
- Talley, Rhea (November 17, 1946). "Dramatist From Kentucky Fools Broadway Critics". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- Price, Theodore (November 5, 1972). "Louise Brooks Is Alive and Well in Rochester". The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- How to Marry a Millionaire at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Parsons, Louella O. (October 7, 1951). "Louella O. Parsons in Hollywood". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- MacPherson, Virginia (April 29, 1949). "Young Star Fights Her Own Battles". The Columbus Telegram. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- "Mrs. Eunson; Novelist and Editor". The Los Angeles Times. July 27, 1970. Retrieved January 13, 2019.