James Wilber Poe (October 4, 1921 – January 24, 1980) was an American film and television

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He is best known for his work on such films as ''

Around the World in 80 Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

'' (for which he jointly won an

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, musica ...

), ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...

'', ''

Summer and Smoke ''Summer and Smoke'' is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, completed in 1948. He began working on the play in 1945 as ''Chart of Anatomy'', derived from his short stories "Oriflamme" and the then-work-in-progress "Yellow Bir ...

'', '' Lilies of the Field'', ''

The Bedford Incident ''The Bedford Incident'' is a 1965 British-American Cold War film starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and co-produced by Widmark. The cast also features Eric Portman, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam and Wally Cox, as well as early appe ...

'', and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?''. He also worked as a writer on the radio shows ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

'' and ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...

'', writing the scripts for some of their best episodes, most notably "

Three Skeleton Key "Three Skeleton Key" is a short story by the French author Georges-Gustave Toudouze. The January 1937 edition of '' Esquire'' marked its first appearance in English. This suspenseful tale and " Leiningen Versus the Ants" were discovered by the m ...

", "Blood Bath" and "The Present Tense", all of which starred

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

. Poe was married to actress

Barbara Steele Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...

from 1969 to 1978.

Career

Poe began his career at ''

March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945. The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. Pr ...

''. He moved to Hollywood in 1941. He wrote radio plays and documentaries before moving into feature films. He had to sue for credit on ''Around the World in 80 Days''. In 1965 Poe signed a contract to direct films at Columbia but never directed.

Select credits

*''

Close-Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...

'' (1948) *'' Without Honor'' (1949) *''

Scandal Sheet Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...

'' (1952) *'' Paula'' (1952) *''

A Slight Case of Larceny ''A Slight Case of Larceny'' is a 1953 comedy film directed by Don Weis, written by Jerry Davis, and starring Mickey Rooney, Eddie Bracken, Elaine Stewart, Marilyn Erskine, Douglas Fowley and Robert Burton. It was released on June 5, 1953, by Met ...

'' (1953) *''

The Big Knife ''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 melodrama directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winter ...

'' (1955) *''

'' (1956) *'' Attack!'' (1956) *'' Hot Spell'' (1958) *''

'' (1958) *''

Goodyear Theatre ''Goodyear Theatre'' (also known as ''Award Theatre'' and ''Golden Years of Television'') is a 30-minute dramatic television anthology series telecast on NBC from 1957 to 1960 for a total of 55 episodes. The live show was directed by many notable ...

'' – "Curtain Call" (1958) *''

Last Train from Gun Hill ''Last Train from Gun Hill'' is a 1959 Western in VistaVision and Technicolor, directed by John Sturges. It stars Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn and Earl Holliman. Douglas and Holliman had previously appeared together in Sturges' ''Gunfight at the ...

'' (1959) *''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

'' (1961) *''

The Dick Powell Theatre ''The Dick Powell Show'' is an American television anthology series that ran on NBC from September 26, 1961, until September 17, 1963, primarily sponsored by the Reynolds Metals Company. Overview The series was an anthology of various dramas ...

'' – "

Crazy Sunday "Crazy Sunday" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, originally published in the October 1932 issue of ''American Mercury''. Fitzgerald's story is set in the brutal life of the great studios of 1930s Hollywood, with their flocks of actors, writ ...

" (1962) *'' Lilies of the Field'' (1963) *'' Toys in the Attic'' (1963) *''

Vacation Playhouse ''Vacation Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series that was broadcast during the summer months on CBS from July 22, 1963, to August 21, 1967. Premise ''Vacation Playhouse'' premiered on July 22, 1963, on CBS. The show aired as a ...

'' – "Come a Runnin'" (1963) *''Munroe'' (1963) (TV pilot) *''

'' (1965) *''

Riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

'' (1969) *'' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1969) *''

Bracken's World ''Bracken's World'' is an American drama television series that aired on NBC from September 19, 1969, to December 25, 1970. The series was created and produced by Dorothy Kingsley. The Lettermen performed the second-season theme song "Worlds". ...

'' – episode "Together Again, for the Last Time" (1970) *'' The Gathering'' (1977) *'' Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb'' (1980) *'' The Nightman'' (1992)

References

External links

* 1921 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters American male television writers American radio writers Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica People from Dobbs Ferry, New York Screenwriters from New York (state) {{US-screenwriter-stub