Alvah Cecil Bessie
| Alvah Bessie | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | June 4, 1904 |
| Died | July 21, 1985 (aged 81) |
| Education | Columbia University |
| Known for |
Abraham Lincoln Brigade Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay |
Alvah Cecil Bessie (June 4, 1904 – July 21, 1985) was an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter who was imprisoned for ten months and blacklisted by the movie studio bosses for being one of the group known as the Hollywood Ten.
Bessie was the younger of two sons of Daniel Nathan Cohen Bessie and Adeline Schlesinger Bessie. Bessie’s father was an inventor and successful businessman and the family lived a comfortable life in a prosperous section of Harlem in New York City. He graduated from Dewitt Clinton High School where he had the reputation of being a rebellious student. He subsequently enrolled in Columbia University in 1920, graduating in 1924 with a B.A. in English. In 1922, the Bessie family finances had taken a serious down turn after which the elder Bessie died. This reversal of family circumstances freed Bessie to pursue his own interests and ambition without the intervention of his authoritarian father. Through a friend Bessie was introduced to the Provincetown Players whose guiding member was playwright Eugene O’Neill. Bessie became an actor in the group, which led to a four-year period of theatre work for him in Provincetown as well as in the New York theatre world as performer and actor/manager. Recognizing his talents as an actor were limited, Bessie moved to France in 1928, joining the colony of American expatriates who had relocated there. Bessie now focused his energies on becoming a writer.
Bessie became initially known for his translations of avant-garde French literature, including Songs of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs and The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau.
During the 1930s, Bessie became alarmed at the rise of fascism, and began working for the anti-fascist cause. No stranger to soldiering, through 1938 Bessie fought as a volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Upon his return, he wrote a book about his experiences, Men in Battle. About the book, Ernest Hemingway commented:
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