Florence Wagner
{{short description|American screenwriter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Florence Wagner
| image = Florence_Wagner.jpg
| birth_name = Florence Mason Welch
| birth_date = January 23, 1883
| birth_place = Topeka, Kansas, USA
| death_date = October 9, 1971 (aged 88)
| death_place = La Jolla, California, USA
| occupation = Screenwriter, suffragist, journalist
| spouse = Rob Wagner
James Breese
| relatives =
}}
Florence Wagner (née Welch) was an American screenwriter and journalist.
Biography
Born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, Florence embarked on a career as a journalist, working at The Topeka Daily Herald and The Topeka Daily Capital as a European correspondent, among other beats.
She moved to Los Angeles and began teaching at Polytechnic High School, eventually meeting artist and writer Rob Wagner, whom she married in 1914. The pair worked on a number of socialist projects together before becoming jointly enamoured with film.
Florence wrote two films—Among the Missing and Men of the Night—and contributed to a third, Strangers of the Evening. Meanwhile, Rob edited several films and wrote about the industry for The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's, among other publications.{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380357807/?terms=%22rob+wagner%22+socialist|title=22 Apr 1917, 32 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380771731/?terms=%22rob+wagner%22+%22wife+florence%22|title=21 Jul 1942, 19 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}
In 1929, they founded Rob Wagner's Script, a liberal magazine renowned for publishing work by writers like Ray Bradbury and featuring contributions by film industry insiders like Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. deMille, and Walt Disney. They continued running it together until Rob's death in 1942; Florence ended up selling it in 1947.{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/49382477/?terms=%22florence+wagner%22+%22rob%22|title=23 Feb 1947, Page 23 - The San Bernardino County Sun at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=guJ1OgnzZs8C&q=%22florence+wagner%22+script+magazine&pg=PA9|title=Star Grazing in Hollywood: Reminiscence of a Beverly Hills Restaurateur|last=Weiss|first=Milton|date=2001|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=9780595161607|location=|pages=|language=en}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/457450320/?terms=%22rob+wagner%22+%22wife+florence%22|title=15 Mar 1934, 19 - The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}
In 1948, she married aviator and inventor James Breese, a longtime friend;{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/156331359/?terms=%22florence+wagner%22+%22wagner%27s+script%22|title=2 Jul 1941, Page 10 - Albuquerque Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}} the pair lived in New Mexico together for a time.
Selected filmography
- Among the Missing (1934)
- Strangers of the Evening (1932)
- Men of the Night (1926)
References
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Category:American women screenwriters
Category:American women journalists
Category:Writers from Topeka, Kansas