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Madeleine Ruthven

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Madeleine Ruthven
Born
Madeleine Dwight Skinner

October 26, 1893
DiedFebruary 20, 1978 (aged 84)
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, poet
Years active1923–1936

Madeleine Ruthven (October 26, 1893 – February 20, 1978) was an American screenwriter and poet active from 1923 to 1936.

Biography

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Born to Dwight Skinner and Catherine Bingham in Hornick, Iowa, Madeleine Dwight Skinner was raised in Houston alongside her four siblings. She got her start as a newspaperwoman, working for The Houston Press from 1918 to 1920, and fiction writer publishing in magazines like The Black Cat,[1] before moving to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting.

Her first job in the industry was working for Marshall Neilan's production company.[2] She began writing stories and title cards before moving her way into penning full screenplays. Many of the films she was credited on during her time in Hollywood were B-Westerns and police dramas.[3]

In the 1950s, Ruthven was named by fellow screenwriter Richard J. Collins as a Communist sympathizer and put on the blacklist.[4]

In addition to writing and/or contributing to over a dozen screenplays over the course of her years in the industry, she also wrote a book of poetry published by Los Angeles-based Primavera Press called Summer Denial. When asked why she took up writing poetry, Ruthven answered, "It's cheaper than getting psychoanalyzed."[5] Another collection of poems was titled Sondelius Comes to the Mountains (1934).[6][7]

Ruthven married her first husband, Samuel Ruthven, in 1918; the marriage ended in divorce. She married fellow progressive activist Reuben Borough in the 1950s.[6]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "Chronological List: Madeline Ruthven". www.philsp.com. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  2. ^ "4 Dec 1923, Page 11 - The Houston Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  3. ^ Institute, American Film (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. University of California Press. pp. 20, 100, 277, 645, 709. ISBN 9780520209695.
  4. ^ "13 Apr 1951, Page 13 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  5. ^ "2 Nov 1932, 11 - The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  6. ^ a b Guldimann, Suzanne. "Madeleine Ruthven: Poet of the Mountains". Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  7. ^ Ruthven, Madeleine (1934). Sondelius Came to the Mountains. Primavera Press.