Ernest Granville Booth (August 12, 1898–June 14, 1959) was an American criminal and screenwriter who got his start in writing while an inmate of

San Quentin Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

. Considered to be one of the "star writers ... of the California penal system", while incarcerated Booth became a protégé of

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

, and was responsible for the story or screenplay of several early crime drama movies, including the silent ''

Ladies of the Mob ''Ladies of the Mob'' (1928) is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by William A. Wellman, produced by Jesse L. Lasky and Adolph Zukor for Famous Players-Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a story b ...

'', starring

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

. Excerpted:

Biography

Booth was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

; his father Stuart W. Booth was a prominent area journalist. He was sent to the

Preston School of Industry The Preston School of Industry, also known as Preston Castle, was a reform school located in Ione, California, in Amador County. It was proposed by, and ultimately named after, state senator Edward Myers Preston. The cornerstone was laid in Dec ...

reform school as an early adolescent following an arrest for burglary, and went on to serve several years in prison for various crimes, at one point being dubbed the "ammonia bank bandit", for his holdups where he threatened tellers with a so-called ammonia bomb. He gained notoriety for several escapes and attempted escapes, and was described as "somewhat of a joker" after one episode where after escaping while being transported to California, he mailed a newspaper clipping describing his escape to his jailer in Milwaukee, where he had been originally captured. After being imprisoned in

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...

and San Quentin, where he eventually drew Mencken's attention, several of his stories were published before his parole in 1937. After his release, he eventually began writing crime-related story treatments for Hollywood. In 1947, he was arrested again when it was discovered that he had been responsible for a 1943 burglary and a recent series of robberies, returning him to prison until his death in 1959.

Works

Film

* ''

'' (1928) * ''

Ladies of the Big House ''Ladies of the Big House'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Marion Gering and written by Ernest Booth, William Slavens McNutt and Grover Jones. The film stars Sylvia Sidney, Gene Raymond, Wynne Gibson, Earle Foxe, Rockl ...

'' (1931) * '' Penrod's Double Trouble'' (1938) * ''

Women Without Names ''Women Without Names'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by Robert Florey. Plot Cast * Ellen Drew as Joyce King * Robert Paige as Fred MacNeil * Judith Barrett as Peggy Athens * John Miljan as District Attorney John Marlin * ...

'' (1940) * ''

Men of San Quentin ''Men of San Quentin'' is a 1942 American film directed by William Beaudine. Plot Cast * J. Anthony Hughes as Jack Holden *Eleanor Stewart as Anne Holden *Dick Curtis as Butch Mason *Charles B. Middleton as Saunderson * Jeffrey Sayre as Jim ...

'' (1942)

Books

* ''Stealing Through Life'' (1929, Alfred A Knopf, ) * ''With Sirens Screaming'' (1945, Doubleday, Doran and Company, )

Stories

Published in ''

American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

'': * "We Rob a Bank" (1927) * "A Texas Chain Gang" (1927) * "Ladies of the Mob" (1927) * "Ladies in Durance Vile" (1931)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Ernest Granville 1898 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American male writers American bank robbers American convicts who became writers American escapees American people who died in prison custody Screenwriters from California Writers from Oakland, California American male screenwriters Prisoners who died in California detention