Search results
Preston Sturges (/ ˈ s t ɜːr dʒ ɪ s /; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He is credited as being the first screenwriter to find success as a director.
Preston Sturges was a writer, director and producer of comedy films in Hollywood from 1932 to 1955. He won an Oscar for The Great McGinty (1940) and made classics like Sullivan's Travels (1941) and The Lady Eve (1941).
- January 1, 1
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- January 1, 1
- New York City, New York, USA
Preston Sturges, American motion-picture director, screenwriter, and playwright best known for a series of hugely popular satirical comedies that he made in the early 1940s. He went from being one of Hollywood’s most in-demand scenarists to its first prominent writer-director.
- Michael Barson
- The Power and the Glory (1933) Director: William K. Howard. I did not wish Mr. Howard any hard luck like a bad automobile accident or a seriously broken back or anything like that.
- The Good Fairy (1935) Director: William Wyler. Two weeks before the picture was finished, Willie [Wyler] eloped with Maggie Sullavan. He asked my opinion of the proposed match beforehand, but he must not have heard what I said.”
- Easy Living (1937) Director: Mitchell Leisen. I offered to direct pictures for nothing and even to throw in a script – and my scripts had become quite valuable – for nothing.
- Remember the Night (1940) Director: Mitchell Leisen. At the studio, writing Remember the Night for my new producer, Al Lewin, almost caused me to commit hara-kiri several times, but I postponed it for some later assignment...
Preston Sturges. Writer: Sullivan's Travels. Preston Sturges' own life is as unlikely as some of the plots of his best work. He was born into a wealthy family. As a boy he helped out on stage productions for his mother's friend, Isadora Duncan (the scarf that strangled her was made by his mother's company, Maison Desti).
- August 29, 1898
- August 6, 1959
Apr 3, 2023 · In 1941, when Preston Sturges, the master of the screwball comedy, won the first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, he stumbled onstage and attempted a joke.
Oct 8, 1997 · Learn about the life and career of Preston Sturges, the father of the screwball comedy and one of the most prolific and best paid writers in Hollywood. From his early years in Paris and Chicago to his rise and fall in Tinseltown, discover how he created witty and satirical films like "THE POWER AND THE GLORY" and "THE LADY EVE".
