John Howard Lawson
American dramatist (1894-1977) · United States · On the map · Writers · Died at 82
John Howard Lawson was an American playwright, screenwriter, arts critic, and cultural historian. After enjoying a relatively successful career writing plays that were staged on and off Broadway in the 1920s and '30s, Lawson relocated to Hollywood and began working in the motion picture industry.
John Howard Lawson is read about 43 times a day, in 12 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 21 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Close ties
Zoltan Korda Directed Sahara and Counter-Attack
Walter Wanger Produced Algiers and Blockade
Joel McCrea John wrote Foreign Correspondent and Dynamite
Charles D. Brown Also in Algiers (1938)
Humphrey Bogart John wrote Sahara (1943)
Marsha Hunt John wrote Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947)
Susan Hayward John wrote Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947)
Alan Paton Produced Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
Alfred Newman Directed They Shall Have Music (1939)
Eddie Albert John wrote Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947)
Charles Bickford John wrote Dynamite (1929)
William Dieterle Directed Blockade (1938)
Conrad Nagel John wrote Dynamite and The Ship from Shanghai
Wesley Ruggles Directed The Sea Bat (1930)
Bess Meredyth Also in Our Blushing Brides and The Sea Bat
Archie Mayo Directed They Shall Have Music (1939)
H. Bruce Humberstone Directed Good-bye Love (1933)
Kay Johnson John wrote Dynamite and The Ship from Shanghai
Kurt Kreuger John wrote Sahara (1943)
Stuart Heisler Directed Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)
Carl Esmond John wrote Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947)
Carleton Young John wrote Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947)- Harry Joe Brown Produced Sahara (1943)
- J. Walter Ruben Directed Success at Any Price (1934)
Media & music
Photos 3
"The Hollywood Ten" stand with their attorneys outside district court in Washington, D.C. before arraignment on contempt of Congress charges. The ten were charged for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.(Front row, L-R): Herbert Biberman, attorney Martin Popper, attorney Robert W. Kenny, Albert Maltz and Lester Cole.(Second row, L-R): Dalton Trumbo, John Howard Lawson, Alvah Bessie and Samuel Ornitz.(Top row, L-R): Ring Lardner Jr., Edward Dmytryk and Adrian Scott.
Lawson on the cover of Masses & Mainstream, April 1951About this person
In 1933, he helped to organize the Screen Writers Guild and became its first president. In the ensuing years, he was credited with a number of notable screenplays including Blockade (1938), Action in the North Atlantic (1943), and Counter-Attack (1945).
