James Ashmore Creelman
{{short description|American screenwriter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Ashmore Creelman
| image = Kingkongposter.jpg
| caption = King Kong (1933) was written by James Ashmore Creelman
| birth_name = James Ashmore Creelman
| birth_date = {{birth date|1894|9|21}}
| birth_place = Marietta, Ohio, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|9|9|1894|9|21|}}
| death_place = Manhattan, New York, US
| other_names =
| known_for = The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)
King Kong (1933)
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Dancers in the Dark (1932)
The Untamed Lady (1926)
| education = Yale University
| employer = RKO
| occupation = Screenwriter
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party =
| boards =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents = James Creelman
| relatives =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
James Ashmore Creelman (September 21, 1894 – September 9, 1941) was an American screenwriter in Hollywood, known for co-writing King Kong in 1933.
Biography
He was born on September 21, 1894, in Marietta, Ohio. He was the second son of journalist James Creelman and Alice Leffingwell Buell. He had a sister, Eileen Creelman, who married Frederick Morgan Davenport Jr., son of New York congressman Frederick Morgan Davenport.
Creelman moved to New York City and then Washington, D.C. where his father worked as a journalist.
He was a graduate of Yale University, where he edited the campus humor magazine The Yale Record with Clements Ripley, writer of Jezebel.Yale Banner and Pot Pourri. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1926. p. 238.
File:Most Dangerous Game poster.jpg film The Most Dangerous Game (1932) was written by James Ashmore Creelman.]]
Creelman worked for RKO studios from 1929 and contributed to the storyline of many of the studios' early adventure and thriller films including The Untamed Lady, The Most Dangerous Game, King Kong,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173FBD2CA0484CC3B6799F886896|work=The New York Times|title=Movie Review KING KONG|first=Mordaunt|last=Hall|date=March 3, 1933|author-link=Mordaunt Hall}} Dancers in the Dark and The Last Days of Pompeii.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F05E4DB1F3DE53ABC4F52DFB667838E629EDE|title=The Last Days of Pompeii (1935). 'The Last Days of Pompeii,' a Historical Fable, With Preston Foster, at the Center Theatre -- 'Shipmates Forever,' at the Strand.|first=Andre|last=Sennwald|date=October 17, 1935|author-link=Andre Sennwald}}
Creelman began working in Hollywood in 1924 and wrote for 30 films before stopping in 1935. He also directed the 1927 film High Hat.
On September 9, 1941, twelve days before his 47th birthday, Creelman committed suicide by jumping off the roof garden at the top of a building on 325 E. 72nd Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8022316/screen_director_plunges_to_death/|title=Screen Director Plunges to Death|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=9 Sep 1941|page=11|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=27 December 2016}} He was pronounced dead at Metropolitan Hospital.{{cite news |title=Playwright Dies In 18-Story Plunge. Body of James Creelman Found in Courtyard of 72d St. Apartment Building |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E07E1DA103FE13BBC4153DFBF66838A659EDE |quote=James Creelman, playwright, was killed instantly at 1:05 in the morning|newspaper=New York Times |date= September 9, 1941|accessdate=2015-02-14 }}
Personal life
His paternal grandfather was born to Scots-Irish migrants to Montreal while his paternal grandmother was of Scottish descent. His mother was a native of Marietta, Ohio.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0187256}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creelman, James Ashmore}}
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American people of Canadian descent
Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Category:American people of Scottish descent
Category:Screenwriters from New York City
Category:People from Marietta, Ohio
Category:Suicides by jumping in New York City
Category:Yale University alumni
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American screenwriters
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