Alan Brown Le May (June 3, 1899 – April 27, 1964) was an American novelist and

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

writer. He is most remembered for two classic Western novels, ''The Searchers'' (1954) and ''The Unforgiven'' (1957).Herzberg, Bob (2008). ''Savages and Saints: The Changing Image of American Indians in Westerns'', pp. 164-65. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. They were adapted into the

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s ''The Searchers'' (1956; starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

and

Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter (born Henry Herman McKinnies Jr.; November 25, 1926 – May 27, 1969) was an American film and television actor and producer known for his roles in films such as ''The Searchers'' and ''King of Kings (1961 film), King of Kin ...

, and directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

) and ''The Unforgiven'' (1960; starring

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

and

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

, and directed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

). He also wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for '' North West Mounted Police'' (1940; directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...

, and starring

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

and Paulette Goddard), '' Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942; directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

, John Wayne and Paulette Goddard), and '' Blackbeard the Pirate'' (1952; directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He w ...

, and starring

Robert Newton Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...

and Linda Darnell). He wrote the original source novel for '' Along Came Jones'' (1945; starring Gary Cooper and Loretta Young), as well as a score of other screenplays and an assortment of other novels and short stories. Le May wrote and directed '' High Lonesome'' (1950) starring

John Drew Barrymore John Drew Barrymore (born John Blyth Barrymore Jr.; June 4, 1932 – November 29, 2004) was an American film actor and member of the Barrymore family of actors, which included his father, John Barrymore, and his father's siblings, Lionel and E ...

and

Chill Wills Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet. Early life Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas, on July 18, 1902. Career He was a performer from early chi ...

and featuring

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villainou ...

. Le May also wrote and produced (but did not direct) ''

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

'' (1951), also starring John Drew Barrymore.

Biography

He was born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

to John and Maude Brown Le May. His father was a public school teacher and his maternal grandfather (Daniel L. Brown, Sr.) and uncle (Daniel L. Brown, Jr.) were both lawyers. He first lived with his parents and uncle at his grandparents home at 3229 North Illinois Street in Indianapolis. He moved with his family, including his sister Elizabeth, to

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

as a teenager in the 1910s. He attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida in 1916. In 1918 he registered for the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

draft in Aurora, and then enlisted and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. While attending the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where he graduated in 1922 with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree, he joined the Illinois National Guard. He was promoted to First Lieutenant Field Artillery for the Illinois National Guard in 1923. He published his first novel, ''Painted Ponies'', in 1927 (about the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

and the

U. S. Cavalry U is the twenty-first letter of the Latin alphabet. U may also refer to: Science Mathematics * \cup, union (set theory) * U-set, a set of uniqueness * U, the unitary group Chemistry * Uranium, symbol U, a chemical element * u, the Dalton (u ...

horse soldiers).

Works

Novels

* ''Painted Ponies'' (1927) * ''Old Father of Waters'' (1928) * ''Pelican Coast'' (1929) * ''One Of Us Is A Murderer'' (1930) * ''Gunsight Trail'' (1931) * ''Bug Eye'' (1931) * ''Winter Range'' (1932) * ''Cattle Kingdom'' (1933) * ''Thunder in the Dust'' (1934) - Adapted in '' The Sundowners'', AKA ''Thunder in the Dust'' (1950), directed by

George Templeton George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

* ''The Smoky Years'' (1935) * '' Wild Justice'' (1935) * ''Empire for a Lady'' (1937) * ''The Story of Dr. Wassell'' (1943) * ''Useless Cowboy'' (1944) - Adapted in '' Along Came Jones'' (1945), directed by

Stuart Heisler Stuart Heisler (December 5, 1896 – August 21, 1979) was an American film and television director. He was a son of Luther Albert Heisler (1855–1916), a carpenter, and Frances Baldwin Heisler (1857–1935). He worked as a motion picture editor ...

* ''Winter Range'' (1948) * ''The Searchers'' (1954) - Adapted in ''

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

'' (1956), directed by

* ''The Unforgiven'', AKA ''Kiowa Moon'' (1957) - Adapted in '' The Unforgiven'' (1960), directed by

* ''By Dim and Flaring Lamps'' (1962)

Short story collections

* ''Spanish Crossing'' (1998). Contains 14 short stories: ** "The Wolf Hunter" (1929) ** "Just a Horse of Mine" (1930) ** "Hell on wheels" (1934) ** "Kindly Kick Out Bearer" (1930) ** "The Biscuit Shooter" (1931) ** "Guns Flame in Peaceful Valley" ** "And Him Long Gone" (1932) ** "Saddle Bum" (1931) ** "Delayed Action" (1931) ** "Bronc Fighter's Girl" (1932) ** "The Young Rush In" (1929) ** "A Shot in the Dark" ** "Lost Dutchman O'Riley's Luck" ** "Spanish Crossing" (1933) * ''The Bells of San Juan'' (2001). Contains 12 short stories: ** "The Little Kid" (1938) ** "Lawman's debt" (1934) ** "Gray rider" ** "Trail Driver's Luck" (1930) ** "The Loan of a Gun" (1929) ** "Eyes of doom" (1932) ** "Tombstone's daughter" ** "Star on his heart" (1944) ** "The Battle of Gunsmoke Lode" (1930) ** "The Braver Thing" (1931) ** "Sundown corral" (1938) ** "The Bells of San Juan" (1927) * ''West of Nowhere'' (2002). Contains 13 short stories: ** "Death rides the Trionte" (1937) ** "Mules" (1931) ** "The Killer in the Chute" (1932) ** "Sentenced to Swing" (1929) ** "The Fourth Man" (1926) ** "The Fiddle in the Storm" (1933) ** "Terlegraphy and the Bronc'" (1925) ** "Gun Fight at Burnt Corral" (1934) ** "A Horse for Sale" (1931) ** "Pardon Me, Lady" (1932) ** "Six-Gun graduate" (1931) ** "Range Bred" (1933) ** "West of Nowhere" (1939) * ''Painted Rock'' (2004). Contains 11 short stories: ** "Whack-Ear's Pup" ** "Strange Fellow" ** "Gunnies from Gehenna" ** "Hard-boiled" ** "Next door to hell" ** "Feud Fight" (1940) ** "Thanks to a Girl in Love" (1932) ** "Man with a Future" (1937) ** "Old Thunder Pumper" (1930) ** "The Nester's Girl" (1933) ** "Fight at Painted Rock" (1939) * ''Tonopah Range: Western Stories'' (2006). Contains 6 short stories: ** "Tonopah Range" ** "One charge of powder" (1930) ** "Blood moon" ** "Empty guns" ** "A Girl is Like a Colt" (1932) ** "Dead Man's Ambush" (1944)

Short stories

Uncollected short stories. * "Circles in the Sky" (1919) * "Out of the Swamp" (1920) * "Ghost Lanterns" (1922) * "Hullabaloo" (1922) * "The Brass Dolphin" (1922) * "Needin' Help Bad" (1924) * "His Better Idea" (1925) * "Mustang Breed" (1925) * "The Contest Man" (1925) * "The Legacy Mule" (1925) * "Baldy at the Brink" (1926) * "Long Bob from 'Rapahoe" (1926) * "Facts an' Figgers on Cayuses" (1927) * "Old Father of Waters" (1927) * "Painted Ponies" (1927) * "The Dedwood Coach Brakes Down" (1927) * Bug Eye series: *# "Bug Eye Neerly Starves" (1927) *# "Bug Eye Loses Hisself" (1927) *# "Bug Eye Gets Hisself in Jale" (1928) *# "Bug Eye Among the Soo" (1928) *# "Hank Joins the Vijiluntys" (1928) *# "Hank's Other Pardner" (1928) *# "Hank Arrives Back Ware He Cum Frum" (1929) * "Are You There, Bug Eye?" (1928) * "Bug Eye's Wandering Partner" (1928) * "The Cross Eyed Bull" (1928) * "Help, Bug Eye—I Own the Town" (1929) * "Cowboys Will Be Cowboys" (1930) * "Gambler's Suicide" (1930) * "Horse Laugh" (1930) * "One of Us Is a Murderer" (1930) * "The Creeping Cloud" (1930) * "The Jungle Terror" (1930) * "The Short Short Story" (1930) * "To Save a Girl" (1930) * "Under Fire" (1930) * "A Neat, Quick Case" (1931) * "Gunsight Trail" (1931) * "The Jungle of the Gods" (1931) * "A romance of the rodeos" (1932) * "A Short Short Story" (1932, with Lyman Bryson) * "Bronc-Fighter's Secret" (1932) * "Eyes of Doom" (1932, with Lyman Bryson) * "Have One on Me" (1932) * "A Passage to Rangoon" (1933) * "Cold Trails" (1933) * "Fated Trails" (1933) * "They Sometimes Come Back" (1933) * "After the Hounds" (1934) * "Out of the Whirlpool" (1934) * "Death on the Rimrock" (1935) * "Deepwater Island" (1935) * "Fight Back or Die" (1935) * "Horses" (1935) * "Needin' Some Help" (1935) * "Pardners" (1935) * "The Blessed Mule" (1935) * "A Cowboy in San Juan" (1936) * "Dark Tropic Sea" (1936) * "Death Rides the Border" (1936) * "From an Old Timer in the Black Hills" (1936) * "Iron Paws" (1936) * "Outlaw Cavalcade" (1936) * "The Man from Arapahoe" (1936) * "Ghost at His Shoulder" (1937) * "Night by a Wagon Trail" (1937) * "A Short Short Story" (1938) * "Impersonation" (1938) * "Pinto York" (1938) * "Uncertain Wings" (1938) * "Aces Is His Hair" (1939) * "Interrupted Take-Off" (1939) * "Hell For Breakfast" (1947) * "Wild Justice" (1948) * "The Avenging Texans" (1954) * "Missing in Action" (1956)

Screenplays

The searchers Ford Trailer screenshot (8-crop)

* '' North West Mounted Police'' (1940), directed by

* '' Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942), directed by

* ''

The Story of Dr. Wassell ''The Story of Dr. Wassell'' is a 1944 American World War II film set in the Dutch East Indies, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso and Dennis O'Keefe. The film was based on a book of the same name by ...

'' (1944), directed by

* '' The Adventures of Mark Twain'' (1944), directed by Irving Rapper * ''Trailin' West'' (1944), directed by

* ''

Story of G.I. Joe ''The Story of G.I. Joe'', also credited in prints as ''Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe'', is a 1945 American war film directed by William A. Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, in ...

'' (1945), directed by William Wellman. Uncredited * ''

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'' (1945), directed by David Butler and, uncredited, Robert Florey and

* ''

'' (1947), directed by

* ''

Gunfighters Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the te ...

'' (1947), directed by George Waggner * ''

Tap Roots ''Tap Roots'' is a 1948 Technicolor Western war film set during the American Civil War. It is very loosely based on the true life story of Newton Knight, a farm owner who attempted to secede Jones County from Mississippi.Stephen Jacobs, ''Bor ...

'' (1948), directed by George Marshall * ''

The Walking Hills ''The Walking Hills'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by John Sturges and starring Randolph Scott and Ella Raines. The film's plot has film noir elements in its story of a search for an old treasure by nine men including a detective tr ...

'' (1949), directed by John Sturges * '' The Sundowners'', a.k.a. ''Thunder in the Dust'' (1950), directed by

* '' High Lonesome'' (1950), directed by Alan Le May * ''

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

'' (1950), directed by William Keighley * ''

'' (1951), directed by

* '' I Dream of Jeanie'', a.k.a. ''I Dream of Jeanie (with the Light Brown Hair)'' (1952), directed by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...

* '' Blackbeard the Pirate'' (1952), directed by

* '' Flight Nurse'', a.k.a. ''Angels Take Over'', a.k.a. ''Angels over Korea'' (1953), directed by

* ''

The Vanishing American ''The Vanishing American'' is a 1925 American silent Western film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by George B. Seitz and starred Richard Dix and Lois Wilson, recently paire ...

'' (1955), directed by Joseph Kane

References

External links

* *
Alan Le May
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on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Le May, Alan 1899 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters 20th-century American screenwriters