Bess Meredyth

Bess Meredyth
Bess Meredyth
Born	Helen Elizabeth MacGlashen February 12, 1890 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	July 13, 1969 (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film actress, Film writer
Spouse(s)	Burton Leslie (?-?) (annulled) Wilfred Lucas (1917-1927) (divorced) (1 child) Michael Curtiz (1929-1962) (his death)
Children	John Meredyth Lucas
Notes
Award winning filmwriter

Bess Meredyth (February 12, 1890 - July 13, 1969) was a film writer and silent film actress. The wife of film director Michael Curtiz, Meredyth wrote The Affairs of Cellini (1934) and adapted The Unsuspected (1947). She was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her son, John Meredyth Lucas, wrote for television.

Snowy Baker

Early in her career Meredyth travelled to Australia with her director husband Wilfred Lucas. They made three films starring Australian sportsman Snowy Baker, The Man from Kangaroo (1920), The Jackeroo of Coolabong (1920) and The Shadow of Lightning Ridge (1921). She was arguably the first professional screenwriter to work in Australia.^[1]

Selected filmography

• A Sailor's Heart (1912)
• The Forbidden Room (1914)
• The Trey o' Hearts (1914)
• The Fascination of the Fleur de Lis (1915)
• Stronger Than Death (1915)
• The Wedding Guest (1916)
• Pay Me! (1917)
• That Devil, Bateese (1918)
• The Man from Kangaroo (1920)
• The Jackeroo of Coolabong (1920)
• The Shadow of Lightning Ridge (1921)
• The Woman He Married (1922)
• Rose o' the Sea (1922)
• Thy Name Is Woman (1924)
• The Red Lily (1924)
• A Slave of Fashion (1925)
• Don Juan (1926)
• The Magic Flame (1927)
• Yellow Lily (1928)
• The Scarlet Lady (1928)
• A Woman of Affairs (1928) - nominated for Academy Award
• Wonder of Women (1929)- nominated for Academy Award
• Romance (1930)
• The Sea Bat (1930)
• Laughing Sinners (1931)
• The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
• The Mighty Barnum (1934)
• Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
• The Mark of Zorro (1940)
• The Unsuspected (1947)

References

1. Stephen Vagg, 'A Brief History of Australian Screenwriting'. Lumina Issue 7, May 2011

External links

• Bess Meredyth at the Internet Movie Database
• Bess Meredyth at the Women Film Pioneers Project