Gerry Day

For the British comics writer, see Gerry Finley-Day.
Gerry Day
Born Gerald Lallande Day
January 27, 1922
Los Angeles, California, United States
Died February 13, 2013 (aged 91)
Los Angeles, California
Resting place San Fernando Mission Cemetery
Occupation Screenwriter
Nationality American
Alma mater UCLA
Period 1954–1994
Genre Westerns
Dramas
Notable works The Black Hole
Bracken's World
The Outcasts
The Watcher in the Woods
Notable awards
Relatives Ruthy and Lenox Day (parents)

Gerald "Gerry" Lallande Day (January 27, 1922 – February 13, 2013) was an American movie and television writer. She was also a newspaper reporter for the Hollywood Citizen News in the mid-1940s.[1]

Early years

Day was born January 27, 1922. in Los Angeles, California to Ruthy and Lenox Day.[1][2][3] Her father was the organist for the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. She was able to watch Howard Hughes film the miniature dogfights for the 1930 film Hell's Angels in a lot behind her childhood home. Lana Turner was her escort and gave her a campus tour when Day first enrolled at Hollywood High School.[1]

Career

Day later attended and graduated from UCLA in 1944. She became a newspaper reporter for the Hollywood Citizen News, filing obituaries and writing reviews of plays. She took a radio drama-writing class, which led to her writing spec scripts for some local television programs at the time. Producer Frank Wisbar would later teach her how to write teleplays for his Fireside Theater, and she would later work for Screen Gems producer Irving Starr and Ford Theatre.[1]

In the 1950s, Day would take a break and tour around Europe, while her mother at home would write her saying that she would love watching the new television shows featuring horses — Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel and Wagon Train. In 1959, Day, who loved horses, met with Wagon Train producer Howard Christie, who let her write her own scripts, as well as doctor others, for the series. Day would also be an unofficial bookie for the series' crew, betting on horse races for them, and eventually becoming part owner of a racehorse.[1]

She would become well-versed in the Western genre, writing for such series as Here Come the Brides, The High Chaparral, Tate, Temple Houston, The Virginian, The Big Valley, The Outcasts, The New Land, and Little House on the Prairie. However, she wrote for other series, such as Medical Center, My Friend Tony, Judd, for the Defense, Peyton Place and Marcus Welby, M.D., where she used the male name "Jon Gerald". She also wrote for the series Dr. Kildare, Court Martial, Hawaii Five-O and Dennis the Menace.[1][3]

Day also co-wrote scripts with Bethel Leslie, an actress and head writer for the long-running soap opera The Secret Storm. They would write scripts for series such as Bracken's World, Matt Helm, Young Dr. Kildare, The New Adventures of Perry Mason, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and Barnaby Jones.[1]

Accolades

In 1967, Day was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for the Court Martial episode "Judge Them Gently". In 1980, Day was co-nominated for both a Saturn Award and a Hugo Award for the screenplay of the film The Black Hole.

Personal life and death

A devout Catholic, Day became a Eucharist minister in her church. She also raised foster children and supported equestrian causes. She died on February 13, 2013, after a long battle with cancer.[1][2][3] She was interred on February 19 at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Bowie, Stephen. "Obituary: Gerry Day (1922-2013)". classictvhistory.wordpress.com. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Obituary: Gerry Lallande Day". callanancares.com. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "RIP Gerry Day". westernboothill.blogspot.com. March 1, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.

External links