Madeleine Ruthven (October 26, 1893 – February 20, 1978) was an American screenwriter and poet active from 1923 to 1936.
Madeleine Ruthven | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Madeleine Dwight Skinner October 26, 1893 Hornick, Iowa, USA |
| Died | February 20, 1978 (aged 84) |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, poet |
| Years active | 1923–1936 |
Biography
editBorn to Dwight Skinner and Catherine Bingham in Hornick, Iowa, Madeleine Dwight Skinner was raised in Houston alongside her four siblings. She got her start as a newspaperwoman, working for The Houston Press from 1918 to 1920, and fiction writer publishing in magazines like The Black Cat,[1] before moving to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting.
Her first job in the industry was working for Marshall Neilan's production company.[2] She began writing stories and title cards before moving her way into penning full screenplays. Many of the films she was credited on during her time in Hollywood were B-Westerns and police dramas.[3]
In the 1950s, Ruthven was named by fellow screenwriter Richard J. Collins as a Communist sympathizer and put on the blacklist.[4]
In addition to writing and/or contributing to over a dozen screenplays over the course of her years in the industry, she also wrote a book of poetry published by Los Angeles-based Primavera Press called Summer Denial. When asked why she took up writing poetry, Ruthven answered, "It's cheaper than getting psychoanalyzed."[5] Another collection of poems was titled Sondelius Comes to the Mountains (1934).[6][7]
Ruthven married her first husband, Samuel Ruthven, in 1918; the marriage ended in divorce. She married fellow progressive activist Reuben Borough in the 1950s.[6]
Selected filmography
edit- The Accusing Finger (1936)
- Straight from the Shoulder (1936)
- Dangerous Corner (1934)
- Shock (1934)
- Wu Li Chang (1930)
- The Ship from Shanghai (1930) (titles)
- Anna Christie (1930) (titles)
- The Bushranger (1928)
- The Rock of Friendship (1928)
- Spoilers of the West (1927)
- The Frontiersman (1927) (story)
- The Rendezvous (1923) (story)
References
edit- ^ "Chronological List: Madeline Ruthven". www.philsp.com. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
- ^ "4 Dec 1923, Page 11 - The Houston Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ Institute, American Film (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. University of California Press. pp. 20, 100, 277, 645, 709. ISBN 9780520209695.
- ^ "13 Apr 1951, Page 13 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ "2 Nov 1932, 11 - The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ a b Guldimann, Suzanne. "Madeleine Ruthven: Poet of the Mountains". Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ Ruthven, Madeleine (1934). Sondelius Came to the Mountains. Primavera Press.