About

Known credits:
40
Birthday:
1890-12-20
Place of birth:
Belleville, New Jersey, USA
Website:
N/A

Frances Goodrich

Overview

Frances Goodrich (December 21, 1890 – January 29, 1984) was an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for her collaborations with her partner and husband Albert Hackett.

Goodrich was born in Belleville, New Jersey, the daughter of Madeleine Christy (née Lloyd) and Henry Wickes Goodrich. The family moved to nearby Nutley when Goodrich was two. She married actor Robert Ames in 1917 (divorced 1923), the writer H.W. Van Loon in 1927 (divorced 1930), and Albert Hackett in 1931. Goodrich and Hackett remained married until her death.

Not long after marrying Hackett, the couple went to Hollywood in the late 1920s to write the screenplay for their stage success Up Pops the Devil for Paramount Pictures. In 1933 they signed a contract with MGM and remained with them until 1939. Among their earliest assignments was writing the screenplay for The Thin Man (1934). They were encouraged by the director W. S. Van Dyke to use the writing of Dashiell Hammett as a basis only, and to concentrate on providing witty exchanges for the principal characters, Nick and Nora Charles (played by William Powell and Myrna Loy). The resulting film was one of the major hits of the year, and the script, considered to show a modern relationship in a realistic manner for the first time, is considered groundbreaking.

They received Academy Award for Screenplay nominations for The Thin Man, After the Thin Man (1936), Father of the Bride (1950) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1955). They won Writers Guild of America awards for Easter Parade (1949), Father's Little Dividend (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), as well as nominations for In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Father of the Bride (1950) and The Long, Long Trailer (1954). They also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for their original play The Diary of Anne Frank. Some of their other films include: Another Thin Man (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Frances Goodrich Hackett died from lung cancer on January 29, 1984 at the age of 93, in New York City.

Known for

Writing
1995 Father of the Bride Part II Writing Original Film Writer 60
Fair
1991 Father of the Bride Writing Original Film Writer 63
Fair
1980 The Diary of Anne Frank Writing Theatre Play 58
Average
1980 The Diary of Anne Frank Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1967 The Diary of Anne Frank Writing Theatre Play 58
Average
1962 Five Finger Exercise Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1959 The Diary of Anne Frank Writing Screenplay 64
Fair
1959 The Diary of Anne Frank Writing Theatre Play 64
Fair
1958 A Certain Smile Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1956 Gaby Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1954 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Writing Screenplay 65
Fair
1954 The Long, Long Trailer Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1953 Give a Girl a Break Writing Writer 58
Average
1951 Too Young to Kiss Writing Writer 58
Average
1951 Father's Little Dividend Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1950 Father of the Bride Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1949 In the Good Old Summertime Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1948 Easter Parade Writing Original Story 61
Fair
1948 Easter Parade Writing Screenplay 61
Fair
1948 The Pirate Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1948 Summer Holiday Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1946 It's a Wonderful Life Writing Screenplay 80
Very good
1946 The Virginian Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1944 The Hitler Gang Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1944 Lady in the Dark Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1939 Another Thin Man Writing Writer 61
Fair
1939 Society Lawyer Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1938 Thanks for the Memory Writing Theatre Play 59
Average
1937 The Firefly Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1936 After the Thin Man Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1936 Small Town Girl Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1936 Rose Marie Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1935 Ah, Wilderness! Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1935 Naughty Marietta Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1934 Hide-Out Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1934 The Thin Man Writing Screenplay 66
Fair
1934 Fugitive Lovers Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1933 Penthouse Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1933 The Secret of Madame Blanche Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1931 Up Pops the Devil Writing Theatre Play 58
Average