Leigh Chapman (March 29, 1939 – November 4, 2014) was an American
actress
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...
and
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.
...
. She began her career in acting during the 1960s, notably in a recurring role as Sarah Johnson, a secretary in the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
, ''
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...
'', 1965.
Chapman transitioned to a career in screen and
scriptwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...
from the 1960s to the 1990s.
She focused on writing for
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
-
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
films, an unusual genre for women scriptwriters in Hollywood during the 1970s.
''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' called Chapman "a pioneering female screenwriter in the action-adventure genre."
Her screenwriting credits included ''
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry'' in 1974 and ''
The Octagon The Octagon may refer to:
*The Octagon, Christchurch, a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand
*The Octagon, Dunedin, the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand
*The Octagon (Egypt), the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of ...
'' in 1980.
Biography
Early life
Chapman was born Rosa Lee Chapman in 1939 in
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...
.
She graduated from
Winthrop College
Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, ...
(now called
Winthrop University
Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, ...
), located in
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...
.
She married right out of college, and her husband wanted to be an actor, so they relocated to Los Angeles during the early 1960s. She initially hired for her first job as a
secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
for an attorney at the
William Morris Agency
The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent a ...
, a major Hollywood
talent agency
Talent has two principal meanings:
* Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value
* Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents
Talent may ...
.
Her marriage ended after a year but she stayed at the agency. She was dating a writer, Ed Lakso, which got her interested in writing.
Agents at the William Morris Agency suggested her secretarial position led to her early acting roles.
[THE GIRL FROM U. N. C. L. E: Leigh Chapman Also Can Write--and Sell--Her Scripts...
Korman, Seymour. Chicago Tribune 19 June 1965: d3.]
Hollywood beginnings
Chapman got interested in acting and began to take classes and do auditions. In April 1963 she joined the cast of a stage production of ''
Come Blow Your Horn
''Come Blow Your Horn'' is Neil Simon's first play, which premiered on Broadway in 1961 and had a London production in 1962 at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Simon rewrote the script more than two dozen times over several years, resulting in a hit ...
''. She began to get television work as well, appearing in episodes of ''
The Eleventh Hour'', ''
McHale's Navy
''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originate ...
'', ''
Burke's Law'', and ''
Ripcord'' as well as the feature ''
Law of the Lawless'' (1963). She had another stage success when she joined the cast of a production of ''
Under the Yum Yum Tree
''Under the Yum Yum Tree'' is a 1963 American sex comedy film directed by David Swift and starring Jack Lemmon, Carol Lynley, Dean Jones, and Edie Adams, with Imogene Coca, Paul Lynde, and Robert Lansing in supporting roles. The film received ...
'' in early 1964. She appeared in ''
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramati ...
'', ''
Combat!
''Combat!'' is an American television drama series that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American sol ...
'', ''
Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictur ...
'', and ''
The Wild Wild West
''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...
''.
Chapman wanted to write and did a "spec" episode of ''Burke's Law'' which they liked and bought, launching her writing career.
She would write several episodes of the show.
Chapman wrote the feature ''
A Swingin' Summer
''A Swingin' Summer'' is a 1965 comedy film in the beach party genre. It was directed and co-written by Robert Sparr. Raquel Welch stars in her first featured film role and makes her singing debut in the film.
Synopsis
A trio of college kids â ...
'' (1965). Following this she was signed to write three features for writer-producer Norman Maurer’s unit at Columbia, ''20,000 Bikinis Under the Sea'', ''That Loving Feeling'' and ''It’s a Tuf Life'', but the beach party fad ended before any were produced.
She alternated between acting and writing, having a semi regular role on ''
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...
'', playing the secretary of
Napoleon Solo
Napoleon Solo is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' The series format was notable for pairing the American Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and the Russian Illya Kuryakin, played by David McCallum, as two ...
.
She also appeared in ''
Iron Horse
''Iron horse'' is an iconic literary term (considered by the early 21st century to be transitioning into an archaic reference) for a steam locomotive, originating in the early 1800s, when horses still powered most machinery. The term was common ...
'', ''
Occasional Wife
''Occasional Wife'' is an American Situation comedy, sitcom which aired on NBC beginning September 13, 1966 and running until May 9, 1967 (repeats were aired through August 29). It was originally on NBC's Tuesday night schedule, airing from 8:30â ...
'', ''
The Professionals
A professional is someone who is skilled in a profession.
Professional or professionals may also refer to:
* Professional sports
Music
*The Professionals (band), a British punk rock band formed in 1979
* ''The Professionals'' (The Professionals ...
'' (in 1966), and ''
The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...
''. She wrote episodes of ''
My Favorite Martian
''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. The first two seasons, totaling ...
'', ''
Mission: Impossible'', and ''
The Wild Wild West
''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...
''. She said "I loved doing ''Wild Wild West'', because it was outrageous. The guy I always had the story conferences with, Henry Sharp, he was so much fun, and lively."
She remembered on ''Mission Impossible'' "at the end, the, quote, clever thing was that the villains were at point A and trying to get to point B, and you wanted them to go to point C, and so you just switched the road signs and they ended up at point C."
In 1967 she wrote ''Kings X'' for producer
Albert S. Ruddy
Albert Stotland Ruddy (born March 28, 1930) is a Canadian-American film and television producer. He is known for producing ''The Godfather'' (1972) and '' Million Dollar Baby'' (2004), both of which won him the Academy Award for Best Picture, as ...
.
She helped write a pilot, ''Where the Girls Are'' (1968), and appeared in another one, ''Land's End'', with
Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...
, an experience she hated so much it made her decide to quit acting.
[She'd Rather Switch Than Starve Henniger, Paul. Los Angeles Times 2 June 1967: d28.]
She wrote episodes of ''
It Takes a Thief'', and ''
Mod Squad
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
''. She did an unproduced feature, ''Occam’s Razor'' (1969), for a company she formed with Harley Hatcher, Har-Leigh. The film was not made.
She was also mentored by
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name."
A v ...
.
"Plot, or structure, really, is my weakness," she said later. "But dialogue is my strong suit."
Chapman then decided to drop out and live in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
for a year.
Action films
When she returned from Hawaii she decided not to work in TV and to focus on features. Chapman wrote an early treatment for ''
Truck Turner
''Truck Turner'', also known as ''Black Bullet'', is a 1974 blaxploitation film, starring Isaac Hayes and Yaphet Kotto, and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The screenplay was written by Michael Allin, Leigh Chapman (under a pseudonym, Jerry Wilke ...
'' (1974). She wrote the unproduced ''Blackfather'' (1974) for producer Norman T. Herman.
She was hired to rewrite a script, ''Pursuit'' which became ''
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
''Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry'' is a 1974 American road crime drama film based on the 1963 Richard Unekis novel titled ''The Chase'' (later retitled ''Pursuit''). Directed by John Hough, the film stars Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, and ...
'' (1974), a huge success. She also wrote ''
How Come Nobody's on Our Side?'' (1974), less widely seen.
She sold a spec script to
Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...
, ''Detroit Boogie'' (1974) and did a prison film, ''The Tin Walls'' (1975) for
Robert Ellis Miller
Robert Ellis Miller (July 18, 1927 – January 27, 2017) was an American film director.
Filmography
* '' Breaking Point'' (1963) - TV Series
* ''Any Wednesday'' (1966)
* '' Sweet November'' (1968)
* ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1968)
...
. Neither was made.
Chapman later said she drifted to action films because there were "just my temperament. I couldn’t write a romantic comedy or a chick flick or a love story if my life
epended on it I mean, I could write a love story, but it would have to be like a Casablanca type of love story, and some people would have to die. I mean, I daresay, if I analyze this – and I have – growing up the way I did, that my alter ego is male. Because I decided very early on that guys got to have all the fun. I mean, women, what did they do? They fall in love, they get married, they have kids. There are exceptional women in this world, yes there are. But when I was growing up, they were just totally boring... I like larger-than-life characters who do dangerous, heroic things. And that, to me, means men."
Chapman wrote some scripts in the late 1970s — ''The Laconia Incident'' (1977), ''Felonious Laughter'' (1978), ''Rhintestone Heights'' and ''Motordrome Project'' (1980) — that were not filmed.
She wrote scripts for ''
Steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
'' (1979), and ''
Boardwalk
A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...
'' (1979).
She wrote the story and script for ''
The Octagon The Octagon may refer to:
*The Octagon, Christchurch, a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand
*The Octagon, Dunedin, the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand
*The Octagon (Egypt), the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of ...
'' (1980) with
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championshi ...
. She wrote the script for ''
King of the Mountain'' (1981) and did an uncredited rewrite on ''
...All the Marbles'' (1981). In 1982, she pitched an idea for a female remake of ''
The Fountainhead
''The Fountainhead'' is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect, who battles against conventional standards and refuses to com ...
'', but it was not made.
Chapman wrote ''
Impulse
Impulse or Impulsive may refer to:
Science
* Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time
* Impulse noise (disambiguation)
* Specific impulse, the change in momentum per uni ...
'' (1990), directed by
Sondra Locke
Sandra Louise Anderson (''née'' Smith; May 28, 1944 – November 3, 2018), professionally known as Sondra Locke, was an American actress and director. She achieved worldwide recognition for her relationship with Clint Eastwood and the six hit f ...
and produced by Ruddy. She wrote ''
Storm and Sorrow''(1990) based on her own novel. In the early 1990s, she wrote a script for
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the a ...
that was not made.
Chapman wrote the pilot for ''
Walker, Texas Ranger
''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texa ...
'' (1993) starring Norris but had an unhappy experience and left the show after only writing a few episodes. She did an early draft of what became ''
An Eye for an Eye
"An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law.
In Roman c ...
'' (1996.
[Vigilante novel to befilmed: inal EditionThe Province; Vancouver, B.C. ancouver, B.C5 Aug 1993: B5.]
Chapman appeared in the 2001
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
television film ''
After the Storm''.
Later life and death
Chapman picked up
underwater photography
Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated underwater veh ...
during her later life. An exhibition of her aquatic photographs was held at Calumet Photography in Hollywood in 2011.
Chapman died at her home in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
on November 4, 2014, at the age of 75. She had been diagnosed with cancer eight months before.
She never remarried, but among the men she dated were
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...
and
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Leigh
1939 births
2014 deaths
American television actresses
Screenwriters from California
American television writers
Winthrop University alumni
People from West Hollywood, California
People from Kannapolis, North Carolina
20th-century American actresses
Screenwriters from North Carolina
American women television writers
American women screenwriters
21st-century American women