Wendell Mayes

Wendell Mayes (July 21, 1919 in Hayti, Missouri – March 28, 1992 in Santa Monica, California) was a Hollywood screenwriter. His father Von Mayes was a lawyer and his mother Irene (née Haynes) was a teacher.

Mayes began as an actor. An episode he wrote for the "Kraft Television Theatre" received a good review in a Los Angeles newspaper and Billy Wilder hired him to work on the script to the film The Spirit of St. Louis. That was his first credit in a successful screenwriting career.

For Anatomy of a Murder, Mayes received a New York Film Critics Circle Award for best screenplay in 1959 and an Oscar nomination in 1960. It is claimed to be one of the best trial movies of all time. Mayes died of cancer at the age of 72.

His screenwriting credits included:

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