Martin Quigley Jr. (November 24, 1917 – February 5, 2011) was a publisher of film magazines, an author and a politician twice elected mayor of

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Larc ...

.Obituary ''Larchmont Gazette'', February 14, 2011
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Journalism and publishing

He was the son of Martin Quigley (1890–1964). His father had been a founder of developer of motion picture trade periodicals including the ''

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Herald ...

'' and an active proponent and co-author of the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

, which governed the content of Hollywood movies from the 1930s to the 1960s.(5 May 1964)
Martin Quigley, Wrote Film Code
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' The younger Quigley became very active in the editing and publication of those periodicals from young adulthood, also attempting to maintain the influence of the Code, especially in the 1960s, as it faded into irrelevance as moral standards changed.Obituary ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', February 12, 201

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Espionage

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 opposin ...

, he used his publishing position as a cover to gather intelligence in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, which remained neutral during the Second World War, and in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, on behalf of the US

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(OSS).

Authorship

Books written or cowritten by him include these: * ''Magic Shadows - The History of the Origin of Motion Pictures'' (1948) * ''Catholic Action in Practice: Family, Life, Education, International Life'' (1963, co-written with Msgr. Edward M. Connors) * ''Peace Without Hiroshima'' (1991) * ''A U.S. Spy in Ireland'' (1999)

Personal life

His father was an important publisher of film magazines. He was a devout Catholic and active in Church activities. He was twice elected mayor of

Notes

1917 births 2011 deaths American magazine publishers (people) American magazine editors American film historians American male non-fiction writers American non-fiction writers American film critics American Roman Catholics Writers from Chicago Georgetown University alumni Columbia University alumni People of the Office of Strategic Services World War II spies for the United States Historians from Illinois {{publish-bio-stub