Catherine Turney

Born in 1906, Catherine Turney became interested in writing while working at the Pasadena Playhouse, and in 1936 her play BITTER HARVEST, about Lord Byron's relationship with his half-sister, was performed at the Arts Theatre in London, its cast including Eric Portman (as Byron), Torin Thatcher, Martita Hunt, and John Abbot. It transferred to the St Martin's Theatre, and though its run was short (due in part to the death of King George VI) its reviews were excellent and prompted an offer from MGM (who had assumed she was English). As a contract writer, Turney wrote for female stars such as Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Ann Sheridan and Ida Lupino, and created quality scripts for such superior melodramas as “Mildred Pierce,” “A Stolen Life,” “My Reputation,” and “The Man I Love.” Turney fashioned scripts in which the heroines were often independent women with spirit and a sense of humor. A former playwright, she was skilled in dramatic construction. Turney returned to playwriting, and had her greatest stage success with MY DEAR CHILDREN (1939, co-written with Jerry Horwin), which was the Broadway swan-song of John Barrymore, though its sell-out audiences were attracted more by Barrymore's outrageous antics and ad-libbing than the play itself. Directed by Otto Preminger, the play ran for 117 performances and would have run longer had Barrymore not tired of it. Turney's next film was “My Reputation” (1946). It was after seeing "My Reputation" that Bette Davis asked for its director, Curtis Bernhardt, and writer Turney to work on “A Stolen Life” (1946). Turney’s other film credits include “Cry Wolf” (1947), “No Man of her Own” (1950), “One More Tomorrow” (1946), “Winter Meeting” (1948), “Japanese War Bride” (1952), and “The Other One” (1957). She wrote several other books, mainly biographies and historical novels, and worked on television soap operas, before retiring to Sierra Madre.