Mary Eunice McCarthy explained

Mary Eunice McCarthy
Birth Date:March 4, 1899
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, USA
Death Date:August 7, 1969 (aged 70)
Death Place:North Hollywood, California, USA[1]
Occupation:Screenwriter, journalist, playwright, author
Years Active:1920 – 1963
Family:John P. McCarthy
Francis Joseph McCarty
Henry McCarty (brothers)
Spouse:Edward G. Boyle

Mary Eunice McCarthy (March 4, 1899 – August 7, 1969) was an American screenwriter, playwright, journalist and author, perhaps best known today as the screenwriter of, and driving force behind, the biopic Sister Kenny (1946).[2] [3]

Biography

Beginnings

One of 13 children born to John Henry McCarty and Catherine Elizabeth Theresa Lynch,[4] [5] [6] [7] Mary graduated from Star of the Sea Parish High School in 1917.[8] She then attended College of the Holy Names before embarking on a career as a journalist in the Bay Area.[9] One of her positions in the early 1920s was as a reporter at The San Francisco Bulletin.[10]

Hollywood career

Around 1921, McCarthy followed her brothers to Hollywood, where she worked at an advertising agency while trying to teach herself the fundamentals of screenwriting.[11] Between 1925 and 1957, she wrote a number of films and at least two stage plays—the latter of which also featured the playwright, under her married name Mary Boyle, in the lead role.[12] [13] During this period, McCarthy lived in Los Angeles but frequently traveled to San Francisco for work.[14] McCarthy also wrote two nonfiction books: Hands of Hollywood was published in 1929, while Meet Kitty (a memoir about her mother) was published in 1957.[15] That same year, both Matinee Theater and O. Henry Playhouse featured new McCarthy teleplays.[16] [17] [18]

In 1939, a syndicated profile/interview highlighted McCarthy's "pet dislike at present," paraphrased by UP's Alex Kahn as "the so-called Hollywood 'Intellectuals' who, she says, try so hard to be different and become so utterly confused." Quoted directly, McCarthy continues:Aside from foreshadowing the anti-message 'message' of Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels, McCarthy's gripe also sheds light on a script she had recently completed and another she would soon begin, namely Irish Luck (1939) and Chasing Trouble (1940), vehicles designed for the newly minted, interracial comic team of Mantan Moreland and Frankie Darro (the latter having previously been singled out for praise in McCarthy's Hands of Hollywood).[19] Despite playing the duo's nominal leader, Darro's leadership is typically so compromised by harebrained schemes and arcane, questionable methodology—in effect, "try[ing] so hard to be different"—that he can scarcely help but "become utterly confused."[20] [21] Moreover, while it is unclear to what extent, if any, she herself was responsible for the Moreland-Darro pairing, the following excerpts from McCarthy's 1957 biography of her mother provides a useful reference point, regarding "the fundamentals of American life" as practiced and preached in the McCarty/McCarthy household.Reviewing Meet Kitty for The New York Times, Ernestine Gilbreth Carey wrote:

In October 1958, McCarthy would briefly resume her journalistic career as author of a weekly column published in the West Los Angeles Independent. It ran for a little under three years and was entitled simply "Mary McCarthy's Column".[22] [23] But, as her new employer noted prior to the column's debut, "Anything more pretentious would offend Mary Eunice McCarthy."[24]

Personal life

She had two brothers who were writer-directors in the industry: John P. McCarthy and Henry McCarty. Another brother, Francis Joseph McCarty, built one of the first radiotelephone sets in 1902, but died in a road accident in 1906. From January 1922 until at least July 1931, McCarthy was married to Edward G. Boyle, a set decorator.[25] [26] [27] [13]

In the weeks leading up to the 1928 presidential election, McCarthy—dubbed "the Joan of Arc of the Democratic Party"[28] —harshly criticized the Hoover presidency and campaigned on behalf of his Democratic opponent, Al Smith.[29] [30]

The dedicatee of her 1929 film-making guide, Hands of Hollywood, was longtime friend and colleague Lucy Beaumont, who had starred in at least two McCarthy-scripted films.[31] [32]

Selected filmography

Further reading

Books

External links

Notes and References

  1. "California Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HG8S-K3N2 : 4 February 2020), Mary McCarthy, 1969.
  2. Cohn, Victor (February 10, 1954). "The Story of Sister Kenny: Seven Questions at Party Tested Nurse's Character". pp. 1-A, 10-A. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  3. https://photos.com/featured/mary-eunice-mccarthy-at-work-in-studio-bettmann.html "Mary Eunice McCarthy At Work In Studio (12/18/34)"
  4. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98684643/the-san-francisco-examiner/ "Sues Father of Thirteen"
  5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98684741/the-san-francisco-examiner/ "Husband Arrested for Failure to Support Wife"
  6. Nichols, Luther (November 8, 1957). "S.F. Mother Was Spunky". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 59. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  7. McCarthy, Mary Eunice (1957). Meet Kitty. Cornwall, NY : The Cornwall Press. p. 1. .
  8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=94100316 "Cross and Flag Given Homage at Church Ceremony"
  9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=94332407 "'The Soul's Year,' Impressive Dramatic Selection, Is Feature of Exercises Held in Auditorium of School"
  10. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94220056/petaluma-daily-morning-courier/ "Another Booster for Petaluma"
  11. McCarthy, Mary Eunice (1957). Meet Kitty. Cornwall, NY : The Cornwall Press. p. 1. "When Kitty was well past sixty, and her hair turning white, she acquired a dancing partner—young, handsome, and 'so light on his feet.' This was Edward George Boyle, who became her son-in-law and my husband. By this time I had left the newspaper and had gone to Hollywood, where I was working for an advertising agency and trying to learn how to write for motion pictures." .
  12. Bennett, Buford Gordon (April 20, 1925). "Mary Carr Stars in Playlet by S. F. Writer". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 11. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  13. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1529385215 "News From the Dailies: New York"
  14. Old Anson (June 23, 1929). "Play-at-Home". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  15. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uwwfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-pUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5837%2C4021602&dq=%22Meet%20Kitty%22 "Seeking Youngsters"
  16. Shalit, Sid (August 16, 1957). "News Around the Dials". New York Daily News.
  17. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=94266521 "Saturday Evening Television Programs"
  18. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series, Volume 11, Parts 3–4, Number 1; Drama and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, January—June, 1957. Washington : Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1957.
  19. McCarthy, Mary Eunice (1929). Hands of Hollywood. Hollywood, CA: Photoplay Research Bureau. p. 74. "[L]ittle Frankie Darro could teach many of the trained actors."
  20. Miller, Steve (July 19, 2018). "'Irish Luck' Sets a Path for Darro & Moreland". Shades of Gray. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  21. Hewson,. Chris (December 24, 2018). "The 12 Days of Mantan Moreland: Chasing Trouble (1940)". Not This Time, Nayland Smith. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  22. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=94234738 "Mary McCarthy's Column Starts"
  23. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94223931/independent/ "Mary McCarthy's Column: Nightmare in the Sun"
  24. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94223021/independent/ "Sparkling New Columnist Starts"
  25. "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K889-SQY : 9 March 2021), Edward George Boyle and Mary Eunice McCarthy, 25 Jan 1922; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,074,274.
  26. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94102341/oakland-tribune/ "Bad Movies Blamed to Showgoers"
  27. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=93934751 "Woman Writer of Scenarios Here Assails Censors"
  28. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94074912/the-los-angeles-times/ "Pasadena Gets Ready for Row"
  29. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93878827/the-fresno-bee/ "Women Speak Here Friday to Aid Al Smith"
  30. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85935280/miss-mary-eunice-mccarthy-speaks-at-the/ "Miss Mary Eunice McCarthy"
  31. K.L. (January 10, 1926). "The Feud Again!". The Los Angeles Times. p. 146. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  32. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=93916736 "Ted Wells at Crown in 'Beauty and Bullets'"
  33. Mark. (March 16, 1927). "Film Reviews: The Fighting Failure". Variety. p. 19. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  34. https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr12holl/page/n323/mode/2up?q=%22mary+eunice+mccarthy%22 "With Universal"
  35. https://archive.org/details/variety107-1932-09/page/n9/mode/2up?q=%22mary+mccarthy+is+at+universal%22 "Rewrite for 'Chance'"
  36. https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr13holl/page/n435/mode/2up?q=%22Woman+Unafraid%22+%22Mary+E+McCarthy%22+%22I+hate+women%22 "The Inside Dope: 'I Hate Women'"
  37. https://archive.org/details/harrisonsreports00harr_9/page/n121/mode/2up?q=%22i+hate+women%22+%22mary+e+mccarthy%22 "'I Hate Women' with Wallace Ford and June Clyde"
  38. Gifford, Dennis (1975). A Pictorial History of Horror Movies. London : Hamlyn. p. 111. .
  39. McCarthy (January 12, 1935). "Showmen's Reviews: Life Returns (Universal), Drama". Motion Picture Herald. p. 33. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  40. Schallert, Edwin (January 25, 1935). "'Life Returns' Sketches Experiment of Cornish". The Los Angeles Times. p. 13. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  41. https://archive.org/details/filmdaily67wids/page/n43/mode/2up?q=%22life+returns%22 "Reviews of the New Films"
  42. https://archive.org/details/motionpicturerev00wome_4/page/n19/mode/2up?q=%22life+returns%22+horman+goodrich "Feature Films: 'Life Returns'"
  43. https://www.mediafire.com/view/x30b6n4ajbcpdwm/ "'Theodora' to Swerling"
  44. Hanson, Patricia King; Dunkleberger, Amy (1999). American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States; Feature Films, 1941–1950. Berkeley CA: University of California Press. p.551. .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mary Eunice McCarthy".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.