Edward Thomas Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr.
(October 13, 1919 – August 23, 2003) was an American writer.
Early years
Hargrove was born in
Mount Olive, North Carolina
Mount Olive is a town in Duplin and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 4,589 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is home to the Mt. Ol ...
. He worked on the newspaper at his Charlotte, North Carolina, high school and worked part-time at ''
The Charlotte News
''The Charlotte News'' was the afternoon newspaper in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was first published on December 8, 1888. The newspaper was eventually purchased on April 5, 1959 by Knight Newspapers, owner of its larger rival ''The Charlotte Ob ...
'' while he was in high school.
He attended
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic liberal arts college in Belmont, North Carolina. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey. The school is affiliated with the Catholic Church and the Order of Saint Benedict. I ...
and was the feature editor of ''The Charlotte News'' before he went into the Army, where he worked on the staff of ''
Yank, the Army Weekly
''Yank, the Army Weekly'' was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II.
History
The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on the newspaper Stars and Stripes during World War I. He ...
''.
Career
Hargrove is noted for the bestselling book ''
See Here, Private Hargrove'', a collection of humorous newspaper columns written mostly before the United States entered World War II. (The book was made into a 1944
movie
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
with
Robert Walker as Hargrove and
Donna Reed
Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in ...
as his love interest.) During the war, he served on the staff of ''
Yank, the Army Weekly
''Yank, the Army Weekly'' was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II.
History
The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on the newspaper Stars and Stripes during World War I. He ...
''. After the war, Hargrove wrote two novels: ''Something's Got to Give'' (1948) and ''The Girl He Left Behind'' (1956), which was made into a
motion picture in 1956, starring Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood. He also wrote for various popular magazines, and served as feature editor of ''
Argosy''.
Hargrove settled in Los Angeles in 1955 and began writing television and film scripts. His credits include ''
Bert D'Angelo/Superstar'', ''
Cash McCall
''Cash McCall'' is a 1960 American romantic drama film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Henry Blanke, directed by Joseph Pevney, and starring James Garner and Natalie Wood. The film's screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Marion H ...
'' (1960), ''
The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'' (1962), and television episodes of ''
Maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
'' (1957), ''
The Restless Gun
''The Restless Gun'' is an American Western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is a ...
'' (1957), ''
Colt .45'' (1957), ''
Zane Grey Theater
''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' is an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956, until September 20, 1962.
Format
Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey, to all of which Four Star F ...
'' (1957), the pilot script for ''
77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...
'' titled ''
Girl on the Run'' (1958), ''
The Rogues'' (1964), ''
I Spy
I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...
'' (1966), ''
The Name of the Game'' (1969), ''
Nichols Nichols may refer to:
People
*Nichols (surname)
*Nichol, a surname
Places Canada
* Nichols Islands, Nunavut
United States
* Nichols, California, an unincorporated community
* Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, California
* Nichols, Connecticut
* Nich ...
'' (1972), ''
The Brothers O'Toole'' (1973), ''
The Waltons
''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book '' Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 fil ...
'' (1975), and ''
Bret Maverick
''Bret Maverick'' is an American Western television series that starred James Garner in the title role, a professional poker player in the Old West. The series aired on NBC from December 1, 1981 to May 4, 1982. It is a sequel series to the 1957- ...
'' (1981). Collaborator
Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins (July 18, 1914 – April 3, 2002) was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including ''Maverick'', '' The Fugitive'', ''Hunter'', and ''The Rockford Files''. He ...
discusses Hargrove at length in part 6 of his video interview with the Archive of American Television. Hargrove was one of three Hollywood writers interviewed and analyzed at length in ''Prime Time Authorship'' (2002), by Douglas Heil. While working at
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
in 1959, he was the center of a successful grass-roots letter-writing campaign to acquire a suitable couch for his office on the studio lot. A selection of these letters was published in ''
Playboy Magazine
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' under the title "Hollywood Horizontal" (1959) and anthologized in ''The Playboy Book of Humor and Satire'' (1965).
In 1965, Hargrove attempted to mold a television series after ''See Here, Private Hargrove'', with
Peter Helm in the starring role. The pilot was produced but never sold.
Personal life and death
Hargrove married Alison Pfeiffer
on December 1, 1942. They had three children and were divorced on May 11, 1950.
He and his second wife, Robin, had three children. He also had a stepdaughter.
Hargrove died from complications of pneumonia in Long Beach, California, on August 23, 2003, aged 83.
See also
* ''
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?''
References
External links
*
The Home Front: Veterans' Stories - Marion Lawton Hargrove, Jr. , Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg CountyRoy Huggins' ''Archive of American Television'' Interview
1919 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American novelists
American humorists
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
Writers Guild of America Award winners
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
United States Army personnel of World War II
{{US-writer-stub