Lamar Trotti
Born
Lamar Jefferson Trotti

(1900-10-18)October 18, 1900
Atlanta, US
DiedAugust 28, 1952(1952-08-28) (aged 51)
Oceanside, California, US
Occupation(s)Writer, screenwriter, motion picture executive
Years active1933–1952
AwardsBest Original Screenplay
1945 Wilson

Lamar Jefferson Trotti (October 18, 1900 – August 28, 1952) was an American screenwriter, producer, and motion picture executive.

Early life and education

Trotti was born in Atlanta, US.[1] He became the first graduate of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, when he received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (ABJ) in 1921.[2] While at UGA, he was the editor of the independent student newspaper The Red and Black.[1]

Professional career

In the silent film era, he was a reporter for the daily Atlanta Georgian, where he interviewed many show business people, such as Viola Dana. Later, Trotti became an executive at Fox Film Corporation in 1933 and after its 1935 merger with Twentieth Century Pictures to become 20th Century Fox, he remained with the company until his death. He wrote about fifty films for the studio, producing many of them. He only wrote one screenplay for another studio, You Can't Buy Everything (1934) for MGM.

He won an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay in 1944 for Wilson and was nominated for Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1952). He received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, the lifetime achievement award of the WGA, in 1983.

Personal life

Trotti was in ill heath towards the end of his life and had taken six months leave from Fox when he died of a heart attack at hospital near his summer home in St Malo in Oceanside, California. He was survived by a widow, a son and a daughter.[3][4] His eldest son had died in a car crash in 1950.[5] Henry Koster later wrote that he thought Trotti died of "a broken heart" because of his son's death.[6]

He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[7]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ^ a b Beck, Kay. "Lamar Trotti (1900–1952)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  2. ^ "Grady College History". Athens, Georgia: Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  3. ^ "LAMAR TROTTI DIES; WON ACADEMY AWARD FOR SCREEN PLAYS". Chicago Daily Tribune. ProQuest 178329154.
  4. ^ "LAMAR TROTTI, FILM PRODUCER, 53, DIES". Los Angeles Times. August 29, 1952. ProQuest 166372350.
  5. ^ "Film producer's son and maid killed in crash". Los Angeles Times. August 11, 1950. ProQuest 166148151.
  6. ^ Koster, Henry; Atkins, Irene Kahn (1987). Henry Koster. Scarecrow Press. p. 105. ISBN 9780810819832.
  7. ^ "Lamar Trotti (1900–1952) – Find a Grave Memorial". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved February 11, 2018.

Other reading

External links

Awards for Lamar Trotti
Authority control databases
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