Item

BOWEN G36.1-226

• 1927-03-24 (Creation)

Adela Rogers St. Johns, on location of "The Patent Leather Kid," March 24, 1927. Striking a relaxed pose, Miss St. Johns wears her helmet tilted as she sits in a director's chair while visiting the filming of "The Patent Leather Kid" at Camp (Fort) Lewis. She wrote the screen adaptation of Rupert Hughes' short story of the same name. Miss St. Johns was a noted journalist and writer who was known for her distinctive, emotional style. A reporter for the Hearst newspapers, she also interviewed celebrated actors for Photoplay magazine, wrote short stories for various periodicals and also wrote many screenplays. She did not restrict herself to a genre but wrote on such varied subjects as the controversial Dempsey-Tunney "long-count" fight, the 1935 Bruno Hauptmann trial, the assassination of Senator Huey Long and the abdication of King Edward VIII of Great Britain. After retiring from newspaper work in 1948, she went on to write books, including her autobiography "Honeycomb," and to teach at a series of universities. Old age did not deter her; she returned to newspaper work at age 82 to report for the San Francisco Examiner on the bank robbery trial of Patricia Hearst. She died at the age of 94 in 1988; she was still working at the time of her death on a book regarding Jesus Christ. (Britannica Online: Women in American History) BGN-163

Reproductions, Citations, and Permissions

• Industries » Industries -- Motion Picture Production