Elaine Ryan (1905-1981) was an American screenwriter and playwright known for writing Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as television in the 1950s.

Biography

Elaine Ryan was born in San Francisco to Daniel Ryan (a prominent attorney) and Josephine Cooney (a teacher). She attended the

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where she was one of few female graduates of an esteemed playwriting program. She married William Wallace, a rancher, in 1931.

Selected filmography

* ''

Babes on Broadway ''Babes on Broadway'' is a 1941 American musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler ...

'' (1941) * ''

A Very Young Lady ''A Very Young Lady'' is a 1941 comedy film directed by Harold D. Schuster and starring Jane Withers and Nancy Kelly. Cast * Jane Withers as Kitty Russell * Nancy Kelly as Alice Carter * John Sutton as Dr. Franklin Meredith * Janet Beecher as ...

'' (1941) * ''

Second Chorus ''Second Chorus'' is a 1940 Hollywood musical comedy film starring Paulette Goddard and Fred Astaire and featuring Artie Shaw, Burgess Meredith and Charles Butterworth, with music by Artie Shaw, Bernie Hanighen and Hal Borne, and lyrics by J ...

'' (1940) * ''

Listen, Darling ''Listen, Darling'' is a 1938 American musical comedy film starring Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, Mary Astor, and Walter Pidgeon. It is best known as being the film in which Judy Garland sings "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", which late ...

'' (1938) * ''

Mr. Dodd Takes the Air ''Mr. Dodd Takes the Air'' is a 1937 American musical comedy film. Composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin were nominated at the 10th Academy Awards in the category of Best Song for "Remember Me". Plot summary A small town electrician bec ...

'' (1937)

References

American women screenwriters University of California, Berkeley alumni Yale University alumni 1905 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-screen-writer-stub