Howard Estabrook (born Howard Bolles, July 11, 1884 – July 16, 1978) was an American actor, film director and producer, and screenwriter.

Biography

Born Howard Bolles in Detroit, Michigan, Howard Estabrook began his career in 1904 as a stage actor in New York. He made his film debut in 1914 during the

silent era 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, wh ...

, and would go on to appear in several features including '' Four Feathers''. Estabrook left films in 1916 for a try at the business world, but returned in 1921. Estabrook took on executive positions with various studios, and eventually began producing films in 1924. He soon found his calling in screenwriting. He was responsible for several of what have come to be regarded as classics of Hollywood including '' Hell's Angels'' (1930) and '' Street of Chance'' (1930), for which he was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. The following year, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for '' Cimarron'', starring

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

and

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...

. In 1935, he (along with

Hugh Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (13 March 18841 June 1941) was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among th ...

and Lenore J. Coffee) adapted the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

novel ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'' for the 1935 film version starring

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

and

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...

. Estabrook continued in his screenwriting career for three decades, as well as directing and producing films before his death on July 16, 1978, in

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is locate ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Selected filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Howard Estabrook papers
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 1884 births 1978 deaths Film producers from Michigan American male screenwriters American male silent film actors American male stage actors Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Male actors from Detroit Silent film directors Film directors from Michigan 20th-century American male actors Screenwriters from Michigan 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-film-director-1880s-stub