Nunnally Johnson

Nunnally Hunter Johnson December 5 1897 March 25 1977 was an American filmmaker who wrote produced and directed motion pictures Johnson was born in Columbus Georgia He began his career as a journalist writing for the Columbus Enquirer Sun the Savannah Press the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the New York Herald Tribune He also wrote short stories and a collection of these There Ought To Be a Law was published in 1930 Johnsons first connection with film work was the sale of screen rights to one of his stories in 1927 Johnson asked his editor if he could write film criticism articles in 1932 When this request was denied he decided to relocate to Hollywood and work directly in the film industry Quickly finding work as a scriptwriter Johnson was hired fulltime as a writer by 20th CenturyFox in 1935 He soon began producing films as well and cofounded International Pictures in 1943 with William Goetz Johnson also directed several films in the 1950s including two starring Gregory Peck Johnson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath and the Directors Guild of America Best Directors Award in 1956 for The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Johnson died of pneumonia in Hollywood in 1977 and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles