Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns (May 20, 1894 – August 10, 1988) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for

silent movies A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Greatest Girl Reporter" during the 1920s and 1930s and her celebrity interviews for ''

Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...

'' magazine.

Early life

St. Johns was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the only daughter of Los Angeles criminal lawyer

Earl Rogers Earl Rogers (November 18, 1869 – February 22, 1922) was an American trial lawyer and professor, who later became the inspiration for Perry Mason. Life Earl Rogers was born in Perry, New York on November 18, 1869, the son of Methodist ministe ...

(who was a friend of publishing magnate

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

) and his wife, Harriet Belle Greene. She attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

, graduating in 1910.

Career

She obtained her first job in 1912 working as a reporter for Hearst's ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

''. She reported on crime, politics, society, and sports news before transferring to the ''

Los Angeles Herald The ''Los Angeles Herald'' or the ''Evening Herald'' was a newspaper published in Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1873 by Charles A. Storke, the newspaper was acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1931. It ...

'' in 1913. After seeing her work for that newspaper,

James R. Quirk James R. Quirk (September 4, 1884 – August 1, 1932) was an American magazine editor. Career Quirk was the vice president and editor of '' Photoplay'' magazine, one of the earliest film or fan glamour magazines and particularly popular in t ...

offered her a job writing for his new fan magazine ''

''. St. Johns accepted the job so she could spend more time with her husband and children. Her celebrity interviews helped the magazine become a success through her numerous revealing interviews with Hollywood film stars. She also wrote short stories for ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', and other magazines and finished nine of her thirteen screenplays before returning to reporting for Hearst newspapers. Writing in a distinctive, emotional style, St. Johns reported on, among other subjects, the controversial

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. ...

–

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

"long-count" fight in 1927, the treatment of the poor during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and the 1935 trial of

Bruno Richard Hauptmann Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidna ...

for kidnapping and murdering the son of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

. In the mid-1930s, she moved to Washington, D.C., to report on national politics for the ''

Washington Herald ''The Washington Herald'' was an American daily newspaper in Washington, D.C., from October 8, 1906, to January 31, 1939. History The paper was founded in 1906 by Scott C. Bone, who had been managing editor of ''The Washington Post'' from 1888 ...

''. There she became prominent among a group of female reporters working for

Cissy Patterson Eleanor Josephine Medill "Cissy" Patterson, Countess Gizycki (November 7, 1881 – July 24, 1948) was an American journalist and newspaper editor, publisher and owner. Patterson was one of the first women to head a major daily newspaper, the ''W ...

. Her coverage of the assassination of Senator

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

in 1935, the abdication of

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

in 1936, the Democratic National Convention of 1940, and other major stories made her one of the best-known reporters of the day. St. Johns again left newspaper work in 1948 in order to write books, and to teach journalism at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. In 1962, she published ''Final Verdict'', a biography of her father

. The book was adapted for a

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

television film of the same name in 1991;

Olivia Burnette Olivia Burnette (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress who began her career as a child actress at the age of six. She is perhaps best known for her role in the NBC sitcom ''The Torkelsons'' (1991–1993), Homeless Woman in ''Sons of Anarc ...

portrayed the young St. Johns.

Later years

St. Johns was awarded the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

on April 22, 1970. During the late 1960s and 1970s, St. Johns was a frequent guest on various talk shows including both

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar repo ...

's and

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

's ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 a ...

''. During one ''Tonight Show'' visit, Paar noted that St. Johns had known many legends of

Hollywood's Golden Age Classical Hollywood cinema is a term used in film criticism to describe both a narrative and visual style of filmmaking which became characteristic of American cinema between the 1910s (rapidly after World War I) and the 1960s. It eventually be ...

and was once rumored to have had

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

's child. St. Johns quipped, "Well, who wouldn't have wanted to have Clark Gable's baby?" Paar inquired if there was anything she wanted to do that she had not yet done in her rather incredible life, St. Johns replied, "I just want to live long enough to see how it all turns out." In 1976, at the age of 82, she returned to reporting for the ''Examiner'' to cover the bank robbery and conspiracy trial of

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was found a ...

, granddaughter of her former employer. In the late 1970s, St. Johns hosted a miniseries chronicling Gable's films, which appeared on Iowa Public Television. Around the same time she was interviewed for the television documentary series '' Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film'' (1980). The following year, St. Johns appeared with other early 20th-century figures as one of the 'witnesses' in

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

's ''

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

'' (1981). St. Johns spent her remaining years living in

Arroyo Grande, California Arroyo Grande (Spanish language, Spanish for "Big Creek") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 18,441 as of the 2020 census, up from 17,252 as of the 2010 Census. ...

Personal life

St. Johns was married three times and had four children. Her first marriage was to ''Los Angeles Herald'' chief copy editor William Ivan St. Johns, whom she married in 1914. They had two children, Elaine and William Ivan, Jr. before divorcing in 1927. The following year, she married one-time

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

football star Richard Hyland. They had one son, Richard, and divorced in 1934. St. Johns' third marriage was to F. Patrick O'Toole, an airline executive. They married in 1936 and divorced in October 1942. After her third divorce, St. Johns adopted a son as a single parent.

Death

On August 10, 1988, St. Johns died at the South County Convalescent Hospital in

at the age of 94. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

Bibliography

Books

* ''The Skyrocket'' (Cosmopolitan, 1925)

ovel Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community. Mourners In Judaism, the p ...

* ''A Free Soul'' (Cosmopolitan, 1927)

* ''

The Single Standard ''The Single Standard'' is a 1929 American romantic drama film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed by veteran John S. Robertson and starring Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, and Johnny Mack Brown. This was Greta Garbo's fifteenth film and her second c ...

'' (Grosset & Dunlap, 1928) ovelization of her screenplay* ''Field of Honor'' (E.P. Dutton, 1938)

* ''The Root of All Evil'' (E.P. Dutton, 1940)

* ''Never Again, and Other Stories'' (Doubleday, 1949) * ''How to Write a Story and Sell It'' (Doubleday, 1956) * ''Affirmative Prayers in Action'' (Dodd, Mead, 1957) * '' First Step up Toward Heaven: Hubert Eaton and Forest Lawn'' (Prentice-Hall, 1959) * ''Final Verdict'' (Doubleday, 1962) [biography of her father,

] * ''Tell No Man'' (Doubleday, 1966)

* '' The Honeycomb'' (Doubleday, 1969) utobiography* ''

Some are Born Great Some may refer to: *''some'', an English word used as a determiner and pronoun; see use of ''some'' *The term associated with the existential quantifier *"Some", a song by Built to Spill from their 1994 album ''There's Nothing Wrong with Love'' *S ...

'' (Doubleday, 1974) tories about great women the author had known* '' Love, Laughter, and Tears: My Hollywood Story'' (Doubleday, 1978) emoir* '' No Good-byes: My Search into Life Beyond Death'' (McGraw-Hill, 1982)

Articles

* "Do You Have a Story to Tell?," ''

The Writer ''The Writer'' is a magazine for writers, published monthly by Madavor Media. History ''The Writer'' was first established by William H. Hills and Robert Luce, two ''Boston Globe'' reporters, as "a monthly magazine to interest and help all lit ...

'', August 1953

Filmography

Acting

* ''

'' (1981)

Screenplays

* '' Old Love for New'' (1918) * ''

Marked Cards Card marking is the process of altering playing cards in a method only apparent to marker or conspirator, such as by bending or adding visible marks to a card. This allows different methods for card sharps to cheat or for magicians to perform magi ...

'' (1918) * '' The Secret Code'' (1918) * ''

Broken Laws ''Broken Laws'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Roy William Neill, remarkable for the appearance of Dorothy Davenport, who is billed as "Mrs. Wallace Reid".

'' (1924) * ''

Inez from Hollywood ''Inez from Hollywood'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Alfred E. Green. It was produced by Sam E. Rork with distribution through First National Pictures. The film is based on the short story ''The Worst Woman in Hollywood'' by ...

'' (''The Worst Woman in Hollywood'', 1924) * '' Lady of the Night'' (1925) * ''

The Red Kimona ''The Red Kimono'' (spelled as "''The Red Kimona''" in the opening credits) is a 1925 American silent drama film about prostitution produced by Dorothy Davenport (billed as Mrs. Wallace Reid) and starring Priscilla Bonner. This is the debut fil ...

'' (1925) * ''

The Skyrocket ''The Skyrocket'' is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film directed by Marshall Neilan and starring Peggy Hopkins Joyce. The film was based on the 1925 novel of the same name by Adela Rogers St. Johns and scripted by Benjamin Glazer. Cas ...

'' (1926) * ''

The Wise Guy ''The Wise Guy'' is a 1926 American silent crime drama film produced and directed by Frank Lloyd and distributed through First National Pictures. Jules Furthman provided a screen story with scenario by Adela Rogers St. Johns. Mary Astor, James ...

'' (1926) * ''

The Broncho Twister ''The Broncho Twister'' is 1927 American silent Western film starring Tom Mix. The film is lost. Cast * Tom Mix as Tom Mason * Tony the Horse as Tom's Horse (as Tony the Wonder Horse) * Helene Costello as Paulita Brady * Nancy Drexel as D ...

'' (1927) * '' Children of Divorce'' (1927) * ''

Singed ''Singed'' is a 1927 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation. The film was directed by John Griffith Wray and stars Blanche Sweet. ''Singed'' is based on Adela Rogers St. Johns's story "Love o' Women". A pri ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Patent Leather Kid ''The Patent Leather Kid'' is a 1927 American silent drama film about a self-centered boxer who performs a heroic act in World War I that severely wounds him. It was directed by Alfred Santell and stars Richard Barthelmess, Molly O'Day, Lawfo ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Arizona Wildcat ''The Arizona Wildcat'' is a 1939 American comedy Western film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and starring Leo Carrillo and Jane Withers. Plot The orphaned Mary Jane Patterson ( Jane Withers) is under the guardianship of Manuel Hernandez (Leo ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Heart of a Follies Girl ''The Heart of a Follies Girl'' is a lost 1928 American comedy film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by Dwinelle Benthall, Gerald Duffy, Charles Logue, and Rufus McCosh. The film stars Billie Dove, Larry Kent, Lowell Sherman, Clari ...

'' (1928) * '' Lilac Time'' (1928) * ''Scandal'' (1929) * ''

'' (1929) * ''

A Free Soul ''A Free Soul'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film that tells the story of an alcoholic San Francisco defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with, who ...

'' (1931) * ''

What Price Hollywood? ''What Price Hollywood?'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Constance Bennett with Lowell Sherman. The screenplay by Gene Fowler, Rowland Brown, Jane Murfin and Ben Markson is based on a story by Adela ...

'' (1932) * ''

Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen ''Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen'' is a 1934 pre-Code American comedy-drama film, starring Dorothea Wieck, Alice Brady, and Baby LeRoy, written by Adela Rogers St. Johns and Jane Storm from a novel and story by Rupert Hughes, and directed by Alexa ...

'' (1934) * '' A Woman's Man'' (1934) * '' A Star Is Born'' (1937, uncredited) * ''

Back in Circulation ''Back in Circulation'' is a 1937 American film directed by Ray Enright and starring Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell. Based on the short story "Angle Shooter" by Adela Rogers St. Johns, Blondell plays a fast-moving newspaper reporter who senses ...

'' (1937) * ''

The Great Man's Lady ''The Great Man's Lady'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea. It is based on the short story "The Human Side" by Viña Delmar. It was filmed at two locations in Thousand O ...

'' (1942) * ''

Government Girl ''Government Girl'' is a 1943 American romantic-comedy film, produced and directed by Dudley Nichols and starring Olivia de Havilland and Sonny Tufts. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns, and written by Dudley Nichols and Budd Schulberg, th ...

'' (1943) * ''

That Brennan Girl ''That Brennan Girl'', also known as ''Tough Girl'', is a 1946 Melodrama#Film, melodrama film produced and directed by Alfred Santell and starring James Dunn (actor), James Dunn, Mona Freeman, William Marshall (bandleader), William Marshall, and J ...

'' (1946) * '' Smart Woman'' (1948) * ''

The Girl Who Had Everything ''The Girl Who Had Everything'' is a 1953 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Armande Deutsch for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film features William Powell in his last MGM feature and one of his last film roles be ...

'' (1953, based on her novel ''A Free Soul'')

Teleplays

* ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' was an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations. Radio After an audition show ...

'' (Episode: "The Crime of Daphne Rutledge", 1954) * ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...

'' (Episode: "Never Again", 1955)

Footnotes

References

* Herbert Howe, "Photoplay's Hollywood Astronomers: 'Our Adela'," ''

'', November 1923, p. 54. Biography. * ''The Honeycomb'', Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1969, pp. 207, 228.

External links

*
Adela Rogers St. Johns
at the Women Film Pioneers Project

by Adela Rogers St. Johns. ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

'', November 26, 1932 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:St Johns, Adela Rogers 1894 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American biographers American women biographers 20th-century American memoirists Screenwriters from California American television writers American women novelists Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) American gossip columnists American women columnists Hollywood High School alumni Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients University of California, Los Angeles faculty Writers from Los Angeles American women screenwriters American women memoirists American women essayists 20th-century American women writers People from Arroyo Grande, California Novelists from California Women film pioneers 20th-century American essayists American women television writers 20th-century American screenwriters