Preston Sturges
| Preston Sturges | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Edmund Preston Biden August 29, 1898 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 6, 1959 (aged 60) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Playwright, screenwriter, film director |
| Years active | 1928–1956 |
| Spouse(s) | Estelle de Wolf Mudge (1923–1928; divorced) Eleanor Close Hutton (1930–1932; annulled) Louise Sargent Tevis (1938–1947; divorced) Anne Margaret "Sandy" Nagle (1951–1959; his death) |
Preston Sturges (/ˈstɜːrdʒɪs/; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film The Great McGinty, his first of three nominations in the category.
Sturges took the screwball comedy format of the 1930s to another level, writing dialogue that, heard today, is often surprisingly naturalistic, mature, and ahead of its time, despite the farcical situations. It is not uncommon for a Sturges character to deliver an exquisitely turned phrase and take an elaborate pratfall within the same scene. A tender love scene between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve was enlivened by a horse, which repeatedly poked its nose into Fonda's head.
Prior to Sturges, other figures in Hollywood (such as Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Frank Capra) had directed films from their own scripts, however, Sturges is often regarded as the first Hollywood figure to establish success as a screenwriter and then move into directing his own scripts, at a time when those roles were separate. Sturges famously sold the story for The Great McGinty to Paramount Pictures for $1, in return for being allowed to direct the film; the sum was quietly raised to $10 by the studio for legal reasons.
Sturges was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Mary Estelle Dempsey (later known as Mary Desti or Mary D'Este) and travelling salesman Edmund C. Biden. His maternal grandparents, Catherine Campbell Smyth and Dominick d'Este Dempsey, were immigrants from Ireland, and his father was of English descent.
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