Elizabeth Beecher was an American screenwriter best known for her work on Western-themed movies and television shows in the 1940s and 1950s.
Elizabeth Beecher | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 19, 1898 Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA |
| Died | March 8, 1973 (aged 75) Burbank, California, USA |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
Early life
editBeecher was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is a descendant of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. She graduated from Syracuse University in 1920 with majors in English and history.[1]
Career
editBeecher worked as a news reporter and writer for the Syracuse Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York American.[1] She moved to Hollywood in 1937, where she took up work as a freelance writer. She began writing screenplays for Western film producers as well as television shows such as Lassie and The Gene Autry Show.[1]
Outside of film, Beecher wrote comic and children's books, including adaptions of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas and Tonka[2] for the Walt Disney Company.[1] Additional writings included a cookbook of early American family recipes, seven Little Golden Books, four Big Golden Books, and The Bar-Twenty Cowboy, a book selected for inclusion in the Children's Library at the British Museum.[1] She also rewrote or ghost wrote more than 100 manuscripts.[1]
Filmography
editTelevision
edit- The Cisco Kid (various)[3]
Movies
edit- Bullets and Saddles, 1943 (writer)[4]
- Rough Riders of Cheyenne, 1945 (writer)[5]
Personal life
editBeecher died on March 3, 1973, in Burbank, California. She was survived by her son, Guy Snowden Miller; her sister, Dorothy Shidler; her grandson, Gene; and her granddaughter, Kerry.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g "Author Elizabeth Beecher Dies in Hospital, Was 75". The Van Nuys News. 8 March 1973. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1959: January-June. Library of Congress. 1960. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ Nevins, Francis M. (2008). The Cisco Kid: American Hero, Hispanic Roots. Bilingual Press. ISBN 9781931010498. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ Pitts, Michael R. (2012). Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476600901. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ Martin, Len D. (2006). The Republic Pictures Checklist: Features, Serials, Cartoons, Short Subjects and Training Films of Republic Pictures Corporation, 1935-1959. McFarland. ISBN 9780786427406. Retrieved 15 February 2016.