Wallace Smith (screenwriter)

Wallace Smith (1888 - January 31, 1937)[1] was a reporter, author, artist and screenwriter. He became Washington correspondent for the Chicago American at the age of 20, remaining with that newspaper for over a decade. According to the book The Madhouse on Madison Street,[2] Smith was "one of the most colorful reporters who ever worked for the Hearst papers," and was born with the last name of Schmidt, which he changed to Smith during World War I. He was sent to Mexico and did illustrated reporting on several campaigns of Pancho Villa against the Carranza regime.[3] In 1920 he originated the Joe Blow comic panel feature for the Chicago American.[4] In 1921-22 he was assigned to California to cover the Roscoe Arbuckle trials and the William Desmond Taylor murder case.[5] The articles bylined by Smith (for the Chicago American) and Eddie Doherty (for the Chicago Tribune) were so inflammatory that Under-Sheriff Eugene W. Biscailuz, fearing for their safety, offered to provide them each with a bodyguard, but they both declined. [6]

Returning to Chicago, Smith provided the illustrations for Ben Hecht's controversial novel Fantazius Mallare: a Mysterious Oath, which resulted in a $1,000 fine in U.S. District Court for both Hecht and Smith.[7] In 1923, Wallace Smith authored and illustrated The Little Tigress: Tales Out of the Dust of Mexico. In the next few years he wrote short stories published in a variety of magazines including Liberty, The American Magazine, and Blue Book Magazine. [8]

Smith moved to Hollywood and began a decade-long screenwriting career, which included Two Arabian Knights, The Lost Squadron, Friends and Lovers, and The Captain Hates the Sea.[9] Novels included The Captain Hates the Sea, Bessie Cotter and The Happy Alienist.

He died of a heart attack in his home in Hollywood on January 31, 1937, and was survived by his wife, Echo Smith.[10]

His archival papers are at the University of Oregon.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Wallace Smith, Author and Artist, Taken by Death", Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California), February 1, 1937: B1
  2. ↑ Murray, George (1965). The Madhouse on Madison Street. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co. pp. 150–151.
  3. ↑ Ergenbright, Eric L. (October 1934), "Caballero y Soldado", New Movie Magazine: 105
  4. ↑ The Fourth Estate, May 29, 1920: 12 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ The Fourth Estate, February 18, 1922: 19 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Doherty, Edward (1941). Gall and Honey: The Story of a Newspaperman. New York: Sheed and Ward. p. 200.
  7. ↑ Variety, February 7, 1924: 11 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ The FictionMags Index, retrieved 26 November 2013
  9. ↑ IMDB, retrieved 26 November 2013
  10. ↑ "Wallace Smith, Author and Artist, Taken by Death", Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California), February 1, 1937: B1
  11. ↑ Guide to the Wallace Smith Papers, retrieved 26 November 2013

External links