Becky Gardiner (born Rebeckah McCormick McLean; April 24, 1886) was an American screenwriter and actress active in the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for writing screenplays that focused on women.

Biography

Gardiner was born into a prominent

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

family; her father, Donald McLean, was a lawyer, and his wife, Emily Nelson Ritchie, was related to Maryland Gov.

Albert Ritchie Albert Cabell Ritchie (August 29, 1876 – February 24, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he was the 49th governor of Maryland from 1920 to 1935. Ritchie was a conservative who campaigned for, but did not win, the preside ...

. On June 12, 1909, she married writer John D.W. Gardiner; they had one daughter, Emily, who became an author as well. Gardiner got her start as an actress in New York City, performing in small roles in the early 1910s under the name Becky Bruce. She turned her attention to writing in the 1920s, studying in Paris at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

and writing a column called "Footlights and Studio Lamps" for ''The Evening Sun''; she eventually went under contract at Famous Players–Lasky, where she was the only woman on the East Coast writing staff. She also worked at Fox and Paramount. Films for which Gardiner wrote adaptations included ''Sea Horses'' (1926) and ''Padlocked'' (1926). She also wrote the scenario for ''War Nurse'' (1930). Her date of death is unknown.

Selected filmography

* '' Stingaree'' (1934) * ''

Coming Out Party ''Coming Out Party'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code drama film directed by John G. Blystone starring Frances Dee, Gene Raymond, Alison Skipworth and Nigel Bruce. It was produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation. Synopsis Joy Stanhope, ...

'' (1934) * ''

Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) ''Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)'' is a 1931 American pre-Code film directed and produced by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Greta Garbo and Clark Gable. The film was based on the novel by David Graham Phillips and made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. I ...

'' (1931) * ''

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) * ''

War Nurse War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

'' (1930) * ''

The Trial of Mary Dugan ''The Trial of Mary Dugan'' is a play written by Bayard Veiller. The 1927 melodrama concerns a sensational courtroom trial of a showgirl accused of killing her millionaire lover. Her defense attorney is her brother, Jimmy Dugan. It was first pres ...

'' (1929) * '' The Sin Sister'' (1929) * ''

Square Crooks ''Square Crooks'' is a 1928 American silent comedy drama film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Robert Armstrong, Johnny Mack Brown and Dorothy Dwan.Solomon p.307 The screenplay is based on the 1926 play ''Square Crooks'' by James P. Judge. ...

'' (1928) * ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

'' (1927) * ''

Love's Greatest Mistake ''Love's Greatest Mistake'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Evelyn Brent. The film is now lost. Plot Honey McNeil (Josephine Dunn) comes to New York expecting to have a rather dull time under ...

'' (1927) * ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...

'' (1926) * ''

Padlocked ''Padlocked'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Rex Beach, Becky Gardiner, and James Shelley Hamilton. The film stars Lois Moran, Noah Beery Sr., Louise Dresser, Helen Jerome Eddy, Allan Simpson, Floren ...

'' (1926) * ''

Sea Horses A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

'' (1926)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Becky American women screenwriters Writers from Baltimore American film actresses 1886 births Date of death missing Screenwriters from Maryland 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Baltimore