Helen Logan

{{short description|American screenwriter}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Helen Logan

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_date = December 13, 1906

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, US

| death_date = January 15, 1989

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, US

| othername =

| education = University of California at Los Angeles

| occupation = Screenwriter

| yearsactive = 1935–1950 (film)

| spouse = Robert Ellis

}}

Helen Logan (December 13, 1906 – January 15, 1989) was an American screenwriter active from 1935 to 1950.Solomon p.359

Biography

Helen Logan was born in Los Angeles, California, to William Edson Logan and Ida Jane Busick. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles and then went to work at Fox as a script reader before moving up the ranks to be a script clerk.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332793785/?terms=%22helen%2Blogan%22%2Bscenario|title=Charlie Chan Gives Star Fat Income|date=February 2, 1936|work=The Tampa Tribune|access-date=January 11, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/117177895/?terms=%22helen%2Blogan%22%2Bscenario|title=Another Team Succeeds|date=June 8, 1941|work=The Arizona Republic|access-date=January 11, 2019}} Eventually she began writing her own screenplays for Fox, working on two popular franchises, Charlie Chan and the Jones Family. Later she worked on wartime musical films.

She wrote many of her scripts in collaboration with writer-director-actor Robert Ellis, who she began working with around 1934 and married at some point after 1940. In fact, in 1938, Ellis was sued by actress Vera Reynolds for $150,000; Reynolds alleged that Ellis had promised to marry her but instead took a trip to Mexico with Logan.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421570134/?terms=%22helen%2Blogan%22%2Bscenario|title=Sued by Blonde, He Admits Tour With Redhead|date=March 24, 1938|work=The New York Daily News|access-date=January 11, 2019}} Ellis and Logan had separate contracts but made the same salary.

Selected filmography

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • Solomon, Aubrey. The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography. McFarland, 2011.