John Wexley

John Wexley (born September 14, 1907 in New York City , † February 4, 1985 in Doylestown , Pennsylvania ) was an American screenwriter and playwright .

Life

John Wexley made his playwright debut on Broadway in 1930 . The prison drama itself was filmed in 1932 by Samuel Bischoff with George E. Stone and Paul Fix in the leading roles. Wexley wrote other plays, including the prison drama They Shall Not Die , premiered in 1934 , which was based on the real-life case of the Scottsboro Boys . From the late 1930s he worked in Hollywood himself and was responsible for the scripts of films about Chicago - Angels with dirty faces , I was a Nazi spy or Mr. X went astray . Since Wexley spoke German, he was hired to work with Bertolt Brecht on the script of Die Henker too. His film career ended abruptly when he was blacklisted for his political views . He only became active again in 1957, when he wrote The Judgment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a book about a married couple who were executed on the electric chair for betraying their secrets to the Soviet Union.

Wexley died on February 4, 1985 at the age of 77 of complications from a heart attack . He lived in Pennsylvania since his retirement.

Works (selection)

theatre

• The Last Mile (1930)
• Steel (1931)
• They Shall Not Die (1934)

Movie

• 1938: Chicago - Angels with Dirty Faces ( Angels with Dirty Faces )
• 1938: The double life of Dr. Clitterhouse ( The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse )
• 1939: I Was a Nazi Spy ( Confessions of a Nazi Spy )
• 1940: In the frenzy of the cosmopolitan city ( City for Conquest )
• 1941: Mr. X going astray ( Footsteps in the Dark )
• 1943: Executioners die too ( Hangmen Also Die! )
• 1945: Cornered
• 1947: The Long Night ( The Long Night )

Web links

• John Wexley in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• John Wexley in the Internet Broadway Database
• John Wexley; Playwright, Screenwriter: His Prison Drama for Broadway, 'The Last Mile,' Inspired 2 Films , Los Angeles Times , February 14, 1985