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George Seaton

 
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George Seaton

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Hailing from South Bend, Indiana, George Seaton resettled in Detroit after college to work as a radio and stock-company actor. Seaton was the second person to portray the Lone Ranger on Detroit station WXYZ; he claimed to have come up with the Ranger's immortal cry "Hi-yo, Silver" because he couldn't whistle for his horse, as the script required. Signed as a contract writer at MGM in 1933, Seaton's first major break came when he contributed comedy material, minus screen credit, for the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera (1935). Groucho Marx liked Seaton's work so much that he invited him to co-write, with credit, the screenplay for A Day at the Races (1937), which proved a major success for all concerned. Seaton went on to work at Columbia in the early 1940s, then set up shop at 20th Century-Fox in 1943, where he would remain for the next decade. While at Fox, Seaton was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay work on The Song of Bernadette (1943); in his spare time, he wrote a play titled But Not Goodbye, which flopped on Broadway but did rather well as the 1946 Frank Morgan movie vehicle The Cockeyed Miracle. Having made his directorial debut with Fox's Diamond Horseshoe, Seaton went on to write and direct the evergreen Holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which earned him an Academy Award for best screenplay. Moving to Paramount in 1951, Seaton formed a long and fruitful partnership with producer William Perlberg. The 1954 Perlberg-Seaton production The Country Girl copped yet another Oscar for Seaton, again for the screenplay. Soloing again after 1963, George Seaton continued writing and directing profitable if unmemorable films; his last major hit was 1970's Airport, which garnered him his final Oscar nomination. George Seaton was for many years the president of the Motion Picture Academy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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George Seaton

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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
George Seaton
Born George Stenius
April 17, 1911(1911-04-17)
South Bend, Indiana
Died July 28, 1979(1979-07-28) (aged 68)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Screenwriter, director, producer
Years active 1934-79
Spouse Phyllis Loughton (1936-79)

George Seaton (April 17, 1911 – July 28, 1979) 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.[1]

Seaton joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a contract writer in 1933.[1] 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,[2] 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.[3] 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.

Additional filmography

References

  1. ^ a b Moviefone.com biography
  2. ^ But Not Goodbye at the Internet Broadway Database
  3. ^ Love in E Flat at the Internet Broadway Database

External links

Films directed by George Seaton
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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William Perlberg (Actor, Comedy/Drama)
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