
Frances Goodrich
Personal Info
Known for
Writing
Gender
Female
Birthday
1890-12-20
Day of Death
1984-01-29 (93 years old)
Place of Birth
Belleville, New Jersey, USA
Frances Goodrich
Biography
Frances Goodrich (December 21, 1890 – January 29, 1984) was an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for her collaborations with her partner and husband Albert Hackett.
Goodrich was born in Belleville, New Jersey, the daughter of Madeleine Christy (née Lloyd) and Henry Wickes Goodrich. The family moved to nearby Nutley when Goodrich was two. She married actor Robert Ames in 1917 (divorced 1923), the writer H.W. Van Loon in 1927 (divorced 1930), and Albert Hackett in 1931. Goodrich and Hackett remained married until her death.
Not long after marrying Hackett, the couple went to Hollywood in the late 1920s to write the screenplay for their stage success Up Pops the Devil for Paramount Pictures. In 1933 they signed a contract with MGM and remained with them until 1939. Among their earliest assignments was writing the screenplay for The Thin Man (1934). They were encouraged by the director W. S. Van Dyke to use the writing of Dashiell Hammett as a basis only, and to concentrate on providing witty exchanges for the principal characters, Nick and Nora Charles (played by William Powell and Myrna Loy). The resulting film was one of the major hits of the year, and the script, considered to show a modern relationship in a realistic manner for the first time, is considered groundbreaking.
They received Academy Award for Screenplay nominations for The Thin Man, After the Thin Man (1936), Father of the Bride (1950) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1955). They won Writers Guild of America awards for Easter Parade (1949), Father's Little Dividend (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), as well as nominations for In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Father of the Bride (1950) and The Long, Long Trailer (1954). They also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for their original play The Diary of Anne Frank. Some of their other films include: Another Thin Man (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Frances Goodrich Hackett died from lung cancer on January 29, 1984 at the age of 93, in New York City.
Known For
Crew
(1995)
Father of the Bride Part II
Original Film Writer
(1991)
Father of the Bride
Original Film Writer
(1980)
The Diary of Anne Frank
Theatre Play, Screenplay
(1967)
The Diary of Anne Frank
Theatre Play
(1962)
Five Finger Exercise
Screenplay
(1959)
The Diary of Anne Frank
Screenplay, Theatre Play
(1958)
A Certain Smile
Screenplay
(1956)
Gaby
Screenplay
(1954)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Screenplay
(1954)
The Long, Long Trailer
Screenplay
(1953)
Give a Girl a Break
Writer
(1951)
Father's Little Dividend
Screenplay
(1951)
Too Young to Kiss
Writer
(1950)
Father of the Bride
Screenplay
(1949)
In the Good Old Summertime
Screenplay
(1948)
The Pirate
Screenplay
(1948)
Easter Parade
Screenplay, Original Story
(1948)
Summer Holiday
Screenplay
(1946)
It's a Wonderful Life
Screenplay
(1946)
The Virginian
Screenplay
(1944)
Lady in the Dark
Screenplay
(1944)
The Hitler Gang
Screenplay
(1939)
Another Thin Man
Writer
(1939)
Society Lawyer
Screenplay
(1938)
Thanks for the Memory
Theatre Play
(1937)
The Firefly
Screenplay
(1936)
After the Thin Man
Screenplay
(1936)
Rose Marie
Screenplay
(1936)
Small Town Girl
Screenplay
(1935)
Naughty Marietta
Screenplay
(1935)
Ah, Wilderness!
Screenplay
(1934)
The Thin Man
Screenplay
(1934)
Hide-Out
Screenplay
(1934)
Fugitive Lovers
Screenplay
(1933)
The Secret of Madame Blanche
Screenplay
(1933)
Penthouse
Screenplay
(1931)
Up Pops the Devil
Theatre Play