George Seaton
Encyclopedia
George Seaton was an American
screenwriter
, playwright
, film director
and producer
, and theatre director.
Born George Stenius in South Bend, Indiana
, Seaton moved to Detroit after graduating from college to work as an actor on radio station WXYZ. John L. Barrett played The Lone Ranger
on test broadcasts of the series in early January 1933, but when the program became part of the regular schedule Seaton was cast in the title role. In later years he claimed to have devised the cry "Hi-yo, Silver" because he couldn't whistle for his horse as the script required.
Seaton joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
as a contract writer in 1933. His first major screen credit was the Marx Brothers
comedy A Day at the Races
in 1937. In the early 1940s he joined 20th Century Fox
, where he remained for the rest of the decade, writing scripts for Moon Over Miami
, Coney Island
, Charley's Aunt
, The Song of Bernadette
, and others before making his directorial debut with Diamond Horseshoe
in 1945. From this point on he was credited as both screenwriter and director for most of his films, including The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
, Miracle on 34th Street
, Apartment for Peggy
, Chicken Every Sunday
, The Big Lift
, For Heaven's Sake
, Little Boy Lost
, The Country Girl
, and The Proud and Profane
.
But Not Goodbye, Seaton's 1944 Broadway
debut as a playwright, closed after only 23 performances, although it later was adapted for the 1946 film The Cockeyed Miracle by Karen DeWolf. In 1967 he returned to Broadway to direct the Norman Krasna
play Love in E Flat, which was a critical and commercial flop. The musical Here's Love
, adapted from his screenplay for Miracle on 34th Street by Meredith Willson
, proved to be more successful.
Seaton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay twice, for Miracle on 34th Street (which also earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
) and The Country Girl, and was nominated for Oscars three additional times. He received The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
in 1961.
Seaton died of cancer
in Beverly Hills, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, and theatre director.
Born George Stenius in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, Seaton moved to Detroit after graduating from college to work as an actor on radio station WXYZ. John L. Barrett played The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
on test broadcasts of the series in early January 1933, but when the program became part of the regular schedule Seaton was cast in the title role. In later years he claimed to have devised the cry "Hi-yo, Silver" because he couldn't whistle for his horse as the script required.
Seaton joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
as a contract writer in 1933. His first major screen credit was the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
comedy A Day at the Races
A Day at the Races (film)
Further reading* Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2-External links:*...
in 1937. In the early 1940s he joined 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, where he remained for the rest of the decade, writing scripts for Moon Over Miami
Moon Over Miami (film)
Moon Over Miami is a 1941 Technicolor musical film directed by Walter Lang, with Betty Grable and Don Ameche in leading roles and co-starring Robert Cummings, Carole Landis, Jack Haley, and Charlotte Greenwood. It was one of Haley's last appearances in a major, large-budgeted film; after 1943 he...
, Coney Island
Coney Island (1943 film)
Coney Island is a 1943 American Technicolor musical film released by Twentieth Century Fox and starring Betty Grable in one of her biggest hits. A "gay nineties" musical it also featured George Montgomery, Cesar Romero, and Phil Silvers, was choreographed by Hermes Pan, and was directed by Walter...
, Charley's Aunt
Charley's Aunt
Charley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances....
, The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette (film)
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
, and others before making his directorial debut with Diamond Horseshoe
Diamond Horseshoe
Diamond Horseshoe is a 1945 Technicolor musical film starring Betty Grable, directed by George Seaton, and released by 20th Century Fox.-Background:...
in 1945. From this point on he was credited as both screenwriter and director for most of his films, including The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is a 1947 American musical comedy film written and directed by George Seaton, starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes...
, Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street is a 1947 Christmas film written by George Seaton from a story by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn...
, Apartment for Peggy
Apartment for Peggy
Apartment for Peggy is a 1948 film about a depressed professor whose spirits are lifted when he rents part of his home to a young couple. It was based on the novelette An Apartment for Jenny by Faith Baldwin. Campus exteriors were filmed at the University of Nevada, Reno.-Plot:Jason Taylor is a...
, Chicken Every Sunday
Chicken Every Sunday
Chicken Every Sunday is a 1949 American comedy film directed by George Seaton. The screenplay by Seaton and Valentine Davies is based on the 1944 play of the same title by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G...
, The Big Lift
The Big Lift
The Big Lift is a 1950 drama film shot on location in the city of Berlin, Germany, that tells the story of "Operation Vittles", the 1948-1949 Berlin Airlift, through the experiences of two U.S...
, For Heaven's Sake
For Heaven's Sake (1950 film)
For Heaven's Sake is a 1950 fantasy film starring Clifton Webb as an angel trying to save the marriage of a couple played by Joan Bennett and Robert Cummings...
, Little Boy Lost
Little Boy Lost
Little Boy Lost is a 1953 Paramount Pictures black-and-white drama motion picture starring Bing Crosby. Others in the cast include Claude Dauphin, Christian Fourcade, Gabrielle Dorziat, and Nicole Maurey....
, The Country Girl
The Country Girl (1954 film)
The Country Girl is a 1954 drama film adapted by George Seaton from a Clifford Odets play of the same name, which tells the story of an alcoholic has-been actor struggling with the one last chance he's been given to resurrect his career. It stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden. Seaton,...
, and The Proud and Profane
The Proud and Profane
The Proud and Profane is a 1956 dramatic war romance made by William Perlberg-George Seaton Productions for Paramount Pictures. It was directed by George Seaton and produced by William Perlberg, from a screenplay by George Seaton, based on the novel The Magnificent Bastards by Lucy Herndon...
.
But Not Goodbye, Seaton's 1944 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as a playwright, closed after only 23 performances, although it later was adapted for the 1946 film The Cockeyed Miracle by Karen DeWolf. In 1967 he returned to Broadway to direct the Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna was an American screenwriter, playwright, and film director. He is best known for penning screwball comedies, melodrama, and early films noir. Krasna also directed three films during a forty-year career in Hollywood...
play Love in E Flat, which was a critical and commercial flop. The musical Here's Love
Here's Love
Here's Love is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson.Based on the classic film Miracle on 34th Street, it tells the tale of a skeptical little girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle inadvertently is hired to represent jolly St...
, adapted from his screenplay for Miracle on 34th Street by Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
, proved to be more successful.
Seaton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay twice, for Miracle on 34th Street (which also earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...
) and The Country Girl, and was nominated for Oscars three additional times. He received The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Academy Award ceremonies for an individual's outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes...
in 1961.
Seaton died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
.
Additional filmography
- Junior MissJunior MissJunior Miss is a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by Sally Benson first published in The New Yorker. Between 1929 and the end of 1941, the prolific Benson published 99 stories in The New Yorker, some under her pseudonym of Esther Evarts...
(1945) - The Proud and ProfaneThe Proud and ProfaneThe Proud and Profane is a 1956 dramatic war romance made by William Perlberg-George Seaton Productions for Paramount Pictures. It was directed by George Seaton and produced by William Perlberg, from a screenplay by George Seaton, based on the novel The Magnificent Bastards by Lucy Herndon...
(1956) - Williamsburg: the Story of a PatriotWilliamsburg: the Story of a PatriotWilliamsburg: the Story of a Patriot, an orientation film produced by Paramount Pictures and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1957, has the distinction of being the longest-running motion picture in history, having been shown continually in the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center for over...
(1956) - Teacher's PetTeacher's Pet (1958 film)Teacher's Pet is a 1958 romantic comedy film starring Clark Gable and Doris Day. It was directed by George Seaton and co-starred Gig Young and Mamie Van Doren-Characters:The main characters include:...
(1958) - The Pleasure of His CompanyThe Pleasure of His CompanyThe Pleasure of His Company is a comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds, released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1958 play of the same name by Samuel A. Taylor and Cornelia Otis Skinner.-Plot:...
(1961) - The Counterfeit TraitorThe Counterfeit TraitorThe Counterfeit Traitor is a 1962 war film starring William Holden and Lilli Palmer. Holden plays an American-born Swedish citizen who agrees to spy on the Nazis in World War II...
(1962) - The HookThe Hook (1963 film)The Hook is a 1963 Korean War war film directed by George Seaton based on the 1957 novel L'Hamecon by Vahé Katcha. The film's title comes from the translation of the title of the original novel rather than the Battle of the Hook...
(1963) - 36 Hours36 Hours36 Hours is a 1965 American suspense film, based on the short story "Beware of the Dog" by Roald Dahl, starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Taylor, and directed by George Seaton...
(1964) - What's So Bad About Feeling Good?What's so bad about feeling good?What's So Bad About Feeling Good? is the title of a 1968 comedy film, starring George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore, Jeanne Arnold, Dom DeLuise and Gillian Spencer....
(1968) - Airport (1970)
- ShowdownShowdown (1973 film)Showdown is a 1972 American Western film directed by George Seaton and starring Rock Hudson, Dean Martin and Susan Clark.It was the final film for Seaton, who three years earlier had directed Martin and an all-star cast in the blockbuster hit Airport....
(1973)