John Cherry Monks, Jr.

John Cherry Monks Jr born Pleasantville, New York 24 February 1910 died Pacific Palisades, California died 10 December 2004 was an author, actor, playwright, screenwriter, director, and a U.S. Marine. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20041229/ai_n12827137 Obituary: John Monks Jnr | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]

Biography

He attended the Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.) and became a stage actor. Together with a fellow former cadet Fred Finkelhoffe, he co-wrote a play in 1936 "Brother Rat". The success of the play led to Warner Bros. purchasing the play for filming at the V.M.I.. Warners engaged them to write the screenplay for the film and a sequel "Brother Rat and a Baby". Monks also wrote "Strike Up the Band" for MGM.

In World War II, Monks enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He met producer Louis de Rochemont and co-wrote "We Are the Marines". Captain Monks served in the 3rd Marine Regiment during the Bougainville campaign and wrote an account of the Regiment "A Ribbon and A Star" published in 1945. [Monks, John "A Ribbon and a Star" Henry Holt & co 1945]

Monks returned to civilian life writing the screenplays for several films such as "The House on 92nd Street" (winning an Edgar Allan Poe Award), "Knock on Any Door", "The People Against O'Hara" and later with Richard Goldstone writing, producing and directing "No Man Is an Island" (1962) about American sailor George Ray Tweed who remained undetected on Guam from the Japanese invasion to the American recapture.

After a long absence from the cinema, Monks made several appearances as an actor beginning with Sylvester Stallone's "Paradise Alley" (1978).

Quotes

"Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse"-spoken by Nick Romano (John Derek) in "Knock On Any Door" (1949)

References

External links

IMDB entry http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0598267/