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James Kevin McGuinness

{{short description|American screenwriter}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = James Kevin McGuinness

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1894|12|20}}

| birth_place = Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1950|12|4|1893|12|20}}

| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.A.

| yearsactive = 1927–1950

}}

James Kevin McGuinness (December 20, 1894 – December 4, 1950) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He provided testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee which led to the Hollywood blacklist in 1947.

Early life

McGuinness was born on December 20, 1894, in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland,{{Cite book|last=United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities|url=https://archive.org/stream/hearingsregardin1947aunit/hearingsregardin1947aunit_djvu.txt|title=Hearings regarding the communist infiltration of the motion picture industry. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (2))|date=1947|publisher=Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|others=Boston Public Library}} and immigrated to New York in 1904.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Career

McGuinness was one of the earliest editors and contributors at The New Yorker magazine; in the March 14, 1925, issue, he profiled the boxer Jack Dempsey and continued to contribute pieces (nonfiction, fiction, and poetry) until 1927.https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/james-kevin-mcguinness He relocated to Los Angeles in the late 1920s, at the dawn of the "talkies" era, and thereafter worked in the film industry as a writer and producer.{{cn|date=December 2024}} He wrote for 36 films between 1927 and 1950.{{cn|date=December 2024}} He eventually became chief supervisor and executive producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Other activities

In 1947, along with fellow screenwriter Jack Moffitt, he testified against others suspected of Communist leanings in Hollywood for hearings associated with the House Un-American Activities Committee, which led to the Hollywood blacklist.{{cite web | title=Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist 9780231547468|first=Thomas |last=Doherty| via=dokumen.pub | date= 2018| url=https://dokumen.pub/show-trial-hollywood-huac-and-the-birth-of-the-blacklist-9780231547468.html | access-date=28 December 2024}}

Death

McGuiness died in New York on December 4, 1950, from a heart attack.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Selected filmography

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Bibliography

{{Expand list|date=October 2016}}

=Articles=

  • {{cite magazine |author=J. M. |date=February 28, 1925 |title=A slogan haunts the bishop |department=Behind the News |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=4 |url= }}
  • {{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |date=February 28, 1925 |title=Beginning at the bottom |department=Behind the News |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=5 |url= }}
  • {{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |author-mask=1 |date=February 28, 1925 |title=The laud will provide |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=22 |url= }}
  • {{cite magazine |author=J. M. |date=March 7, 1925 |title=Call 'Beekman 2,000' |department=Behind the News |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=2–3 |url= }}
  • {{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |date=March 14, 1925 |title=A symbol in pugilism |department=Profiles |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=15–16 |url= }} Jack Dempsey.
  • {{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |author-mask=1 |date=April 18, 1925 |title=Modom |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=9 |pages=7–8 |url= }}
  • {{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |author-mask=1 |date=April 25, 1925 |title=A process of law |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=10 |pages=7 |url= }}

=List of poems=

class='wikitable sortable' width='90%'
width=25%|Title

!|Year

!|First published

!|Reprinted/collected

A Bob ballad : modes

|1925

|{{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |date=March 7, 1925 |title=A Bob ballad : modes |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=18 |url= }}

|

Supper club lights

|1925

|{{cite magazine |author=McGuinness, James Kevin |date=May 23, 1925 |title=Supper club lights |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=1 |issue=14 |pages=6 |url= }}

|

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|id=0570130|name=James Kevin McGuinness}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinness, James Kevin}}

Category:1894 births

Category:1950 deaths

Category:Irish emigrants to the United States

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American film producers

Category:The New Yorker people

Category:Place of birth missing

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American screenwriters

Category:MPAPAI members