- Christopher Trumbo
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Christopher Trumbo (September 25, 1940 – January 8, 2011) was an American television writer, screenwriter and playwright. Trumbo was considered an expert on the Hollywood blacklist during the McCarthy era.[1] His father, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, was blacklisted as a member of The Hollywood Ten. [1]
Trumbo was born on September 25, 1940, to Dalton and Cleo Trumbo. He was raised in Los Angeles.[2] Trumbo was seven years old when his father was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947.[1] His father spent ten months in prison before being released in 1951.[1] The family then moved to Mexico City to live with screenwriter Hugo Butler, who was also blacklisted.[1] The Trumbos returned to the United States after two years in Mexico and settled in Highland Park, California.[1]
Trumbo graduated from Franklin High School in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.[2] He enrolled at Columbia University. He took a year off from Columbia to work as an assistant director on the 1960 film Exodus, which was written by his father, Dalton Trumbo, and directed by Otto Preminger.[2] Trumbo received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1963.[1]
Trumbo began working as a television and film screenwriter in 1967.[1][2] Trumbo co-wrote the 1973 film The Don Is Dead, starring Anthony Quinn, as well as the 1975 John Wayne film Brannigan. In 1978, Trumbo wrote the television film Ishi: The Last of His Tribe, in which he co-credited his father, who died in 1976.[2] Trumbo's other credits included television episodes of Falcon Crest, Ironside and Quincy, M.E..[1]
Trumbo penned a play based on his father's blacklist-era letters, called Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted.[2] The play, which focuses on Dalton Trumbo's blacklist experience through his personal letters, was adapted as an off-Broadway production directed by Peter Askin.[1] Askin's Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted, which starred Nathan Lane as Dalton Trumbo and Gordon MacDonald as the narrator, opened at the Westside Theatre in New York City.[1] The production ran for approximately one year.[1] Lane departed the production and several well-known actors took on the role of Dalton Trumbo, including Chris Cooper, Gore Vidal, Richard Dreyfuss, F. Murray Abraham and Brian Dennehy.[1] Dennehy later starred in a national tour of the play.[1]
Christopher Trumbo and Peter Askins again collaborated to create the 2007 film Trumbo, which was also based on Dalton Trumbo's letters.[1] The film combined documentary footage with performances by Nathan Lane, Brian Dennehy, Liam Neeson, Donald Sutherland and Paul Giamatti.[1]
Trumbo was considered an expert on the Hollywood blacklist era. He was often cited in books and appeared in documentaries concerning the subject, including the seven-part Moguls and Movie Stars, which aired on Turner Classic Movies in 2010.[2] Trumbo had been writing a history of the Hollywood blacklist at the time of his death in 2011.[2]
Trumbo died of cancer in hospice care at his home in Ojai, California on January 8, 2011, at the age of 70.[1] He was survived by his wife, Nancy Escher; and his sisters, Nikola Trumbo and Mitzi Trumbo.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q McLellan, Dennis (2011-01-12). "Christopher Trumbo dies at 70; screen and TV writer whose father was blacklisted". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/12/local/la-me-christopher-trumbo-20110112. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Local Screenwriter Dies". Ventura Breeze. 2011-01-20. http://ventura.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=47312. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
External links
Categories:- 1940 births
- 2011 deaths
- American screenwriters
- American dramatists and playwrights
- American documentary filmmakers
- Columbia University alumni
- People from Ojai, California
- People from Los Angeles, California
- Writers from California
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