Jonathan Wyatt Latimer (October 23, 1906 – June 23, 1983) was an American

crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

known his novels and screenplays. Before becoming an author, Latimer was a journalist in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Early life and education

Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Latimer attended Mesa Ranch School in Mesa, Arizona. He then studied at Knox College in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, where he graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

in 1929. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Latimer served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. After the war, he moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and continued his work as a Hollywood screenwriter, including 10 films in collaboration with director

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

Career

Latimer became a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

at the ''

Chicago Herald Examiner The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...

'' and later for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', writing about

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

and meeting Al Capone and

Bugs Moran George Clarence "Bugs" Moran (; Adelard Leo Cunin; August 21, 1893 – February 25, 1957) was an American Chicago Prohibition-era gangster. He was incarcerated three times before his 21st birthday. Seven members of his gang were gunned dow ...

, among others. In the mid-1930s, he turned to writing fiction, starting with a series of novels featuring private eye William Crane, in which he introduced his typical blend of

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and elements of

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

Death

Latimer died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in La Jolla, California on June 23, 1983, aged 76.

Select bibliography

The William Crane series

*''Murder in the Madhouse'' ( 1935) *'' Headed for a Hearse'' ( 1935) filmed 1937 as '' The Westland Case'';

Preston Foster Preston Stratton Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970), was an American actor of stage, film, radio, and television, whose career spanned nearly four decades. He also had a career as a vocalist. Early life Born in Ocean City, New Jersey ...

as Crane *'' The Lady in the Morgue'' (

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

) filmed 1938 (aka ''The Case of the Missing Blonde'' in the UK); Preston Foster as Crane *''The Dead Don't Care'' ( 1938) filmed 1938 as '' The Last Warning''; Preston Foster as Crane *'' Red Gardenias'' ( 1939)

Non-series novels

*''The Search for My Great Uncle's Head'' ( 1937) (as Peter Coffin) *''Solomon's Vineyard'' ( 1941) (published in paperback in 1951 and republished in 2014 under the title ''The Fifth Grave'') *''Sinners and Shrouds'' ( 1955) *'' Black Is the Fashion for Dying'' (

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

)

Non-crime novels

*''Dark Memory'' (

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

)

Short stories

*''A Joke's a Joke'' ( 1938)

Screenplays

*'' The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt'' ( 1939) (based on a novel by

Louis Joseph Vance Louis Joseph Vance (September 19, 1879 – December 16, 1933) was an American novelist, screenwriter and film producer. He created the popular character Michael Lanyard, a criminal-turned-detective known as The Lone Wolf. Biography Louis J ...

) *''

Topper Returns ''Topper Returns'' is a 1941 fantasy comedy thriller directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Jonathan Latimer. The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succee ...

'' ( 1941) ( original screenplay) *''

The Glass Key ''The Glass Key'' is a novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. First published as a serial in '' Black Mask'' magazine in 1930, it then was collected in 1931 (in London; the American edition followed 3 months later). It tells the story of a ga ...

'' (

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

) (based on the

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

novel) *'' Night in New Orleans'' (

) (based on a novel by James R. Langham) *''

Nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...

'' ( 1946) *''

They Won't Believe Me ''They Won't Believe Me'' is a 1947 black-and-white film noir directed by Irving Pichel and starring Robert Young, Susan Hayward and Jane Greer. It was produced by Alfred Hitchcock's longtime assistant and collaborator, Joan Harrison. Plot Af ...

'' ( 1947) (based on a story by Gordon McDonell) *''

The Big Clock ''The Big Clock'' is a 1946 novel by Kenneth Fearing. Published by Harcourt Brace, the thriller was Fearing's fourth novel, following three for Random House (''The Hospital'', ''Dagger of the Mind'', ''Clark Gifford's Body'') and five collections ...

'' ( 1948) (based on the

Kenneth Fearing Kenneth Flexner Fearing (July 28, 1902 – June 26, 1961) was an American poet and novelist. A major poet of the Depression era, he addressed the shallowness and consumerism of American society as he saw it, often by ironically adapting the lan ...

novel) *''

Night Has a Thousand Eyes ''Night Has a Thousand Eyes'' is a 1948 American horror film directed by John Farrow and starring Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell and John Lund. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon and Jonathan Latimer. The film is based on the nov ...

'' ( 1948) (based on the

Cornell Woolrich Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich th ...

novel) *'' Submarine Command'' (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

), screenplay from his own story, starring

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

*''

Plunder of the Sun ''Plunder of the Sun'' is a 1949 novel written by David F. Dodge about a hunt for ancient Peruvian treasure. It was adapted for the November 8, 1949 episode of the radio series ''Escape'' and later into the 1953 film noir of the same title, star ...

'' (

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

) (based on the David F. Dodge novel) *''

The Unholy Wife ''The Unholy Wife'' is a 1957 Technicolor film noir crime film produced and directed by John Farrow at RKO Radio Pictures, but released by Universal Pictures as RKO was in the process of ceasing its film activities. The film features Diana Dors, ...

'' (

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

) (co-authored with William Durkee) *'' The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays'' (1957) (with Frank Capra) *'' The Unchained Goddess'' (

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

) (with Frank Capra) *32 episodes of the ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' television series *''The Greenhouse Jungle'' (from the second season of the '' Columbo'' television series,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

)

References

External links

Jonathan Latimer Miscellaneous Scripts and Screenplays
MSS 133
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Latimer, Jonathan 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters American mystery writers 1906 births 1983 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in California United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters Writers from Chicago Novelists from Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois Knox College (Illinois) alumni

Early life and education

Career

Death

Select bibliography

The William Crane series

Non-series novels

Non-crime novels

Short stories

Screenplays

Other Films Based on Stories by Latimer

See also

References

External links