Jay Presson Allen
| Jay Presson Allen | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Jacqueline Presson March 3, 1922 San Angelo, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | May 1, 2006 (aged 84) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Screenwriter producer playwright |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Lewis M. Allen (1955–2003; his death) |
Jay Presson Allen (March 3, 1922 – May 1, 2006) was an American screenwriter, playwright, stage director, television producer and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes-off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession. "You write to please yourself," she said, "The only office where there's no superior is the office of the scribe."
Allen was born Jacqueline Presson in San Angelo, Texas, the only child of May (née Miller), a buyer, and Albert Jeffrey Presson, a department store merchant. She was "never particularly fond of her given name", and decided to use her first initial when writing. She would spend every Saturday and Sunday in the movie house, from one o’clock until somebody dragged her out at seven. From that time on movies became very important to her, and Allen knew she wouldn't be staying in West Texas. Allen attended Miss Hockaday's School for Young Ladies in Dallas for a couple of years, but came away with, in her words, as "having had no education to speak of." She skipped college and at 18 left home to become an actress. In New York, her career lasted "for about twenty-five minutes" Allen says, when she realized that she only liked rehearsals and the first week of performance, and would rather be "out there" where the decisions were being made.
In the early 1940s, Allen married "the first grown man who asked me" and lived in Claremont, California during World War II. It never occurred to her to get into the movie business as she had always considered it to be exotic. Allen became a writer by default, and having always read constantly and being able to write pretty well, she decided to "write her way out" of the marriage and set out to become financially independent of her husband. She always claimed her first husband's big fault was marrying someone too young.
Her novel, Spring Riot, was published in 1948 and got mixed reviews. Her next effort was a play, which she sent to producer Bob Whitehead. Because he had produced Member of the Wedding, she thought he would like it since her play was also about a child, but the play came back from Whitehead's office rejected. Allen sat on it for a couple of months and sent it back, rightly figuring that some reader had rejected it instead of Whitehead himself. She was correct, and this time Whitehead read the play himself and instantly optioned it. The reader who had initially rejected her play was Lewis M. Allen whom she would later marry, but due to casting problems her play was never produced on stage.
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