Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936.The reason for Nichols' refusal was the fact that the Screen Writers Guild was on strike at the time.Nichols wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for 72 movies, including such classics as Stagecoach (1939), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Scarlet Street (1945), And Then There Were None (1945) (a mystery film), Pinky (1949) and The Tin Star (1957).Nichols' may be best known for his collaboration with Hagar Wilde on the screenplay for Bringing Up Baby (1938), often considered one of the funniest of the 1930s screwball comedies. The movie, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, was under-appreciated on first release but was later recognized as one of the fast-talking classics.Dudley Nichols served as president of the Screen Writers Guild in 1937 and 1938. In 1954, he won the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America.He worked on many films and for many years with director John Ford.Nichols has the interesting distinction of being the first artist to refuse an Academy Award, an act followed by George C. Scott and Marlon Brando.Nichols was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He studied at the University of Michigan where he was active member of the Sigma Chapter of Theta Xi fraternity. He died in Hollywood of cancer in 1960 and was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
The great actors of the stage are actors; of the screen, re-actors.
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It is the writer who is the dreamer, the imaginer, the shaper. He works in loneliness with nebulous materials, with nothing more tangible than paper and a pot of ink; and his theatre is within his mind. He must generate phantoms out of himself and live with them until they take on a life of their own and become, not types, but characters working out their own destinies.
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Fact
1
One of his films as writer/director, Mourning Becomes Electra (1947), became the worst financial debacle for RKO up to that time, losing the studio a record $2.3 million.
2
Worked on thirteen scripts for the director John Ford. Under contract at Fox (1929-35) and RKO (1935-38 and 1943-47).
Before becoming a screenwriter, he was a star reporter and feature writer for the New York Post.
5
Refused to accept the Oscar for his writing for The Informer (1935) because of the antagonism between several industry guilds and the academy over union matters.
6
First artist to refuse the Oscar when he won Best Screenplay for The Informer (1935).
7
(1937-1938) President of the Screen Writers Guild.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
One Mad Kiss
1930
adaptation / dialogue
On the Level
1930
screenplay
Born Reckless
1930
screenplay
Men Without Women
1930
screen play and scenario
Stagecoach
1986
TV Movie 1939 screenplay
Stagecoach
1966
based on a screenplay by
Escape from Zahrain
1962
uncredited
Heller in Pink Tights
1960
screenplay
The Hangman
1959
writer
The Tin Star
1957
Run for the Sun
1956
Prince Valiant
1954
screenplay
The Big Sky
1952
screenplay
Return of the Texan
1952
Rawhide
1951
written by
Pinky
1949
screenplay
Mourning Becomes Electra
1947
The Fugitive
1947
screenplay
Sister Kenny
1946
screen play
Scarlet Street
1945
screenplay
The Bells of St. Mary's
1945
screenplay
And Then There Were None
1945
screenplay
It Happened Tomorrow
1944
adaptation and screenplay
Government Girl
1943
screenplay
For Whom the Bell Tolls
1943
screen play
Bataan
1943
uncredited
Mr. Lucky
1943
contributing writer - uncredited
This Land Is Mine
1943
screenplay
Air Force
1943
original screenplay
The Battle of Midway
1942
Short documentary
Swamp Water
1941
Man Hunt
1941
screenplay
The Long Voyage Home
1940
adapted for the screen by
The Westerner
1940
uncredited
The Marshal of Mesa City
1939
story "The Peacemaker" - uncredited
The 400 Million
1939
Documentary commentary
Stagecoach
1939
screen play
Gunga Din
1939
contributing writer - uncredited
Next Time I Marry
1938
screen play - uncredited
Carefree
1938
story and adaptation
Bringing Up Baby
1938
screen play
The Hurricane
1937
screen play
The Toast of New York
1937
screenplay
The Plough and the Stars
1936
screenplay
Mary of Scotland
1936
screen play
The Three Musketeers
1935
screen play
Steamboat Round the Bend
1935
screen play
The Crusades
1935
screen play
She
1935
additional dialogue
The Arizonian
1935
screenplay / story
The Informer
1935
screen play
Life Begins at 40
1935
contributor to screenplay construction - uncredited
Señora casada necesita marido
1935
contributing writer - uncredited
Mystery Woman
1935
story
Marie Galante
1934
contributor to screenplay construction - uncredited
Judge Priest
1934
screen play
Call It Luck
1934
screenplay / story
Wild Gold
1934
story
Hold That Girl
1934
The Lost Patrol
1934
screen play
You Can't Buy Everything
1934
original screenplay
Frontier Marshal
1934
contributing writer - uncredited
Pilgrimage
1933
dialogue
The Man Who Dared
1933
writer
Hot Pepper
1933
story
Robbers' Roost
1932
adaptation
The Sign of the Cross
1932
1944 prologue, uncredited
This Sporting Age
1932
She Wanted a Millionaire
1932
contributing writer - uncredited
Skyline
1931
Hush Money
1931
The Black Camel
1931
uncredited
Three Rogues
1931
Seas Beneath
1931
A Devil with Women
1930
dialogue / screenplay
El precio de un beso
1930
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mourning Becomes Electra
1947
producer
Sister Kenny
1946
producer
Government Girl
1943
producer
This Land Is Mine
1943
producer - uncredited
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mourning Becomes Electra
1947
Sister Kenny
1946
Government Girl
1943
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Judge Priest
1934
lyrics: "Massa Jesus Wrote Me a Note" 1934, "Aunt Dilsey's Song" 1934 - uncredited
One Mad Kiss
1930
writer: "Lament"
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Judge Priest
1934
lyrics
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1954
Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement
Writers Guild of America, USA
1936
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Writing, Screenplay
The Informer (1935)
1935
Best Screenplay
Venice Film Festival
The Informer (1935)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1958
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen
The Tin Star (1957)
1950
WGA Award (Screen)
Writers Guild of America, USA
The Robert Meltzer Award (Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene)