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Nina Wilcox Putnam

Nina Wilcox Putnam (November 28, 1888 – March 8, 1962) was an American novelist, screenwriter and playwright. She wrote more than 500 short stories, around 1000 magazine articles, and several books in addition to regular newspaper columns, serials, comic books and children's literature. Many of her stories were made into films, including a story that was the basis for the 1932 film The Mummy starring Boris Karloff. She married four times, was estimated to have earned one million dollars from her writing, and drafted the first 1040 income tax form for the IRS.

Nina Wilcox Putnam
Putnam, circa 1932
BornInez Coralie Wilcox[1]
(1888-11-28)November 28, 1888
New Haven, Connecticut
DiedMarch 8, 1962(1962-03-08) (aged 73)
Cuernavaca, Mexico
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • Screenwriter
  • Playwright
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
  • Robert Faulkner Putnam (1907–1918)
  • Robert J. Sanderson (1919–1926)
  • Arthur James Ogle (1931–1933)
  • Christian Eliot (1933–1948)
ChildrenJohn Francis

Biography edit

 
Nina Wilcox Putnam in 1913

Inez Coralie Wilcox[1] was born in New Haven, Connecticut on November 28, 1888 to Eleanor Sanchez Wilcox and Marrion Wilcox. She was homeschooled by her father, who taught English at Yale and was an editor of Harper's Weekly and the Encyclopedia Americana.[2] She had a sister, Lenor, who was five years younger than she. When Inez was 11 years old, the New York Sunday Herald bought a short story of hers for $5.[3]

Wilcox took a job making hats at a Fifth avenue millinery. She married publisher Robert Faulkner Putnam in 1907, taking his last name. She drafted the first US Income Tax 1040 form for the Internal Revenue Service in 1912.[4] She was diagnosed with tuberculosis and given two years to live, an experience she wrote about in 1922 in the Saturday Evening Post.[5][6]

Putnam was a prolific writer, penning romances, westerns, musical comedies and Gothic horror. She wrote pieces for The Saturday Evening Post[7] and had a syndicated column called "I and George" that was carried in 400 newspapers.[8] She also wrote children's books and created a comic book series for children called Sunny Bunny. In 1928 or 1929 she began the comic strip Witty Kitty.[9] Putnam was also a vocal advocate for Victorian dress reform, decrying the horrors of corsets and experimenting with her own dress designs.

A 1929 video of Nina Wilcox Putnam is archived at the University of South Carolina Libraries. In the video Nina Wilcox Putnam tells jokes and sends greetings from France. Putnam walks from bench in garden to table where secretary is working, writes some jokes.

The screenplay for the 1932 film The Mummy starring Boris Karloff was adapted from an original story by Putnam and Richard Schayer.[10] The pair learned about Alessandro Cagliostro and wrote a nine-page treatment entitled Cagliostro. The original story, set in San Francisco, was about a 3000-year-old magician who survives by injecting nitrates. Screenwriter John L. Balderston based his script on the story.

Hollywood made several of Putnam's stories into movies, including Graft, A Game Chicken (1922),[11] The Fourth Horseman, In Search of Arcady, Sitting Pretty, Slaves of Beauty, Two Weeks With Pay, The Beauty Prize, A Lady's Profession (1933) and Golden Harvest. She wrote the screenplay for Democracy: The Vision Restored (1920) and the 1953 film El billetero was adapted from her story. She was estimated to have earned one million dollars from her writing by 1942.[12]

She was the Chairwoman of the Palm Beach County Finnish Relief Fund and she wrote tracts for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Putnam moved to a resort community in Cuernavaca, Mexico, around 1946. After a long illness, the last six years of which she was confined to bed, Putnam died on March 8, 1962.[12]

Personal life edit

Wilcox married New York publisher Robert Faulkner Putnam on October 5, 1907, in New York City. They had a son, John Francis Putnam. Robert Putnam died on October 23, 1918, a victim of that year's flu pandemic. She kept the name Putnam for the rest of her life.

In 1919 she married Robert J. Sanderson of Boston. In 1924, the wife of Putnam's chauffeur-secretary, Richard Ellsworth Bassett, alleged that Putnam had tried to convince her to divorce her husband so that Putnam could marry him. Putnam, who had been pursuing a divorce from Sanderson, denied the charges.[13][14] She divorced Sanderson in 1926. Her third marriage was to Arthur James Ogle on September 12, 1931, in Yuma, Arizona.[15] In July 1933 she was granted a divorce from Ogle. The day after her divorce, Putnam married Christian Eliot, nephew of Granville John Eliot, 7th Earl of St Germans.[16] Christian died on June 18, 1948.

She had homes in New York, Hollywood and Delray Beach, Florida, and once purchased a castle in Spain.[3]

Bibliography edit

 
Cover of Winkle, Twinkle and Lollypop (1918)
  • —— (1912). In Search of Arcady. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. p. 361.
  • —— (1913). The Impossible Boy. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill company.
  • —— (1914). Orthodoxy. New York: Mitchell Kennerley.
  • —— (1915). The Little Missioner. D. Appleton and Company.
  • —— (1916). Adam's Garden. J.B. Lippincott.
  • ——; Jacobsen, Norman (1917). When the Highbrow Joined the Outfit. New York: Duffield & Company.
  • —— (1917). Sunny Bunny. Algonquin.
  • —— (1918). Esmeralda, or, Every Little Bit Helps. Every little bit helps. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. p. 172.
  • ——; Jacobsen, Norman (1918). The Vulgar Dollar. Saturday Evening Post. August 17, 1918. Reprinted Sep 12, 2018
  • ——; Jacobsen, Norman (1918). Winkle, Twinkle and Lollypop. Katharine Sturges Dodge (illust.). P. F. Volland.
  • —— (1919). Believe You Me!. New York: George H. Doran.
  • —— (1920). It Pays to Smile. New York: George H. Doran. p. 286.
  • —— (1921). West Broadway. George H. Doran.
  • —— (1922). Laughter limited. New York: A. L. Burt. p. 341.
  • —— (1922). Tomorrow We Diet. George H. Doran. p. 90.
  • —— (1923). Say It with Bricks: A Few Remarks About Husbands. George H. Doran. p. 33.
  • —— (1923). Say It with Oil: A Few Remarks About Wives. George H. Doran. p. 25.
  • —— (1926). Easy. Burt. p. 269.
  • —— (1930). Laughing through, being the autobiographical story of a girl who made her way. New York: Sears Pub. Co. p. 340.
  • ——; Jacobsen, Norman (1935). Adventures in the Open: In which Winkle, Twinkle, and Lollypop discover the elements of the world about them. Katharine Sturges Dodge (illust.). New York: Wise Book Co. p. 112.
  • —— (1940). The Inner Voice. New York: Sheridan House. p. 309.
  • —— (1950). Lynn, Cover Girl. Messner. p. 186.
  • —— (1950). A Career for Lynn. New York: Avon Book Division, the Hearst Corporation. p. 128.
  • —— (1962). Second-hand book. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Robert Faulkner Putnam and Miss 'lnez Coralie Wilcox Married in the Old First Presbyterian Church". The New York Times. 6 October 1907.
  2. ^ Williams, Steven (July 28, 1941). "Would Punish Fatties by Law: Nina Wilcox Putnam Says Fat-Ugly Ones Are Offensive". The Windsor Daily Star.
  3. ^ a b "Introducing Nina Wilcox Putnam, Whose Serial "Paris Love," Begins Thursday in The News-Bee". The Toledo News-Bee. January 24, 1933.
  4. ^ Bennett, David J. (2007). He Almost Changed the World: The Life and Times of Thomas Riley Marshall. AuthorHouse. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4259-6562-4.
  5. ^ Treichler, Paula A.; Reagan, Leslie J.; Tomes, Nancy (2008). Medicine's Moving Pictures: Medicine, Health, and Bodies in American Film and Television. Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-58046-306-5.
  6. ^ I.M.T. (May 1913). "Nina Wilcox Putnam". The American Magazine. 75: 34–36.
  7. ^ "Putnam, Nina Wilcox (1888-1962)". The FictionMags Index. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  8. ^ Wilcox Putnam, Nina (August 29, 1926). "I and George Knock Out Flies". St. Petersburg Times.
  9. ^ Wilcox Putnam, Nina (December 21, 1928). "Witty Kitty". St. Joseph News-Press.
  10. ^ Joshi, S.T. (2007). Icons of Horror And the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, Volume 1. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 395. ISBN 978-0-313-33780-2.
  11. ^ "Soldiers' Pictures". The Horsham Times. June 6, 1924.
  12. ^ a b "Writer To Be Buried Near Mexican Home". Reading Eagle. March 9, 1962.
  13. ^ "This Time It's the Man Who Pays". The Milwaukee Journal. February 17, 1924.
  14. ^ "Nina's Husband Denies Divorce Pact by Writer". Providence News. April 28, 1924.
  15. ^ "Nina Wilcox Putman Wed for Third Time". The Milwaukee Journal. September 13, 1931.
  16. ^ . Time. July 24, 1933. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010.

Further reading edit

External links edit

nina, wilcox, putnam, november, 1888, march, 1962, american, novelist, screenwriter, playwright, wrote, more, than, short, stories, around, 1000, magazine, articles, several, books, addition, regular, newspaper, columns, serials, comic, books, children, litera. Nina Wilcox Putnam November 28 1888 March 8 1962 was an American novelist screenwriter and playwright She wrote more than 500 short stories around 1000 magazine articles and several books in addition to regular newspaper columns serials comic books and children s literature Many of her stories were made into films including a story that was the basis for the 1932 film The Mummy starring Boris Karloff She married four times was estimated to have earned one million dollars from her writing and drafted the first 1040 income tax form for the IRS Nina Wilcox PutnamPutnam circa 1932BornInez Coralie Wilcox 1 1888 11 28 November 28 1888New Haven ConnecticutDiedMarch 8 1962 1962 03 08 aged 73 Cuernavaca MexicoOccupationNovelist Screenwriter PlaywrightNationalityAmericanSpouseRobert Faulkner Putnam 1907 1918 Robert J Sanderson 1919 1926 Arthur James Ogle 1931 1933 Christian Eliot 1933 1948 ChildrenJohn Francis Contents 1 Biography 2 Personal life 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksBiography edit nbsp Nina Wilcox Putnam in 1913 Inez Coralie Wilcox 1 was born in New Haven Connecticut on November 28 1888 to Eleanor Sanchez Wilcox and Marrion Wilcox She was homeschooled by her father who taught English at Yale and was an editor of Harper s Weekly and the Encyclopedia Americana 2 She had a sister Lenor who was five years younger than she When Inez was 11 years old the New York Sunday Herald bought a short story of hers for 5 3 Wilcox took a job making hats at a Fifth avenue millinery She married publisher Robert Faulkner Putnam in 1907 taking his last name She drafted the first US Income Tax 1040 form for the Internal Revenue Service in 1912 4 She was diagnosed with tuberculosis and given two years to live an experience she wrote about in 1922 in the Saturday Evening Post 5 6 Putnam was a prolific writer penning romances westerns musical comedies and Gothic horror She wrote pieces for The Saturday Evening Post 7 and had a syndicated column called I and George that was carried in 400 newspapers 8 She also wrote children s books and created a comic book series for children called Sunny Bunny In 1928 or 1929 she began the comic strip Witty Kitty 9 Putnam was also a vocal advocate for Victorian dress reform decrying the horrors of corsets and experimenting with her own dress designs A 1929 video of Nina Wilcox Putnam is archived at the University of South Carolina Libraries In the video Nina Wilcox Putnam tells jokes and sends greetings from France Putnam walks from bench in garden to table where secretary is working writes some jokes The screenplay for the 1932 film The Mummy starring Boris Karloff was adapted from an original story by Putnam and Richard Schayer 10 The pair learned about Alessandro Cagliostro and wrote a nine page treatment entitled Cagliostro The original story set in San Francisco was about a 3000 year old magician who survives by injecting nitrates Screenwriter John L Balderston based his script on the story Hollywood made several of Putnam s stories into movies including Graft A Game Chicken 1922 11 The Fourth Horseman In Search of Arcady Sitting Pretty Slaves of Beauty Two Weeks With Pay The Beauty Prize A Lady s Profession 1933 and Golden Harvest She wrote the screenplay for Democracy The Vision Restored 1920 and the 1953 film El billetero was adapted from her story She was estimated to have earned one million dollars from her writing by 1942 12 She was the Chairwoman of the Palm Beach County Finnish Relief Fund and she wrote tracts for the Woman s Christian Temperance Union Putnam moved to a resort community in Cuernavaca Mexico around 1946 After a long illness the last six years of which she was confined to bed Putnam died on March 8 1962 12 Personal life editWilcox married New York publisher Robert Faulkner Putnam on October 5 1907 in New York City They had a son John Francis Putnam Robert Putnam died on October 23 1918 a victim of that year s flu pandemic She kept the name Putnam for the rest of her life In 1919 she married Robert J Sanderson of Boston In 1924 the wife of Putnam s chauffeur secretary Richard Ellsworth Bassett alleged that Putnam had tried to convince her to divorce her husband so that Putnam could marry him Putnam who had been pursuing a divorce from Sanderson denied the charges 13 14 She divorced Sanderson in 1926 Her third marriage was to Arthur James Ogle on September 12 1931 in Yuma Arizona 15 In July 1933 she was granted a divorce from Ogle The day after her divorce Putnam married Christian Eliot nephew of Granville John Eliot 7th Earl of St Germans 16 Christian died on June 18 1948 She had homes in New York Hollywood and Delray Beach Florida and once purchased a castle in Spain 3 Bibliography edit nbsp Cover of Winkle Twinkle and Lollypop 1918 1912 In Search of Arcady Garden City N Y Doubleday p 361 1913 The Impossible Boy Indianapolis The Bobbs Merrill company 1914 Orthodoxy New York Mitchell Kennerley 1915 The Little Missioner D Appleton and Company 1916 Adam s Garden J B Lippincott Jacobsen Norman 1917 When the Highbrow Joined the Outfit New York Duffield amp Company 1917 Sunny Bunny Algonquin 1918 Esmeralda or Every Little Bit Helps Every little bit helps Philadelphia J B Lippincott p 172 Jacobsen Norman 1918 The Vulgar Dollar Saturday Evening Post August 17 1918 Reprinted Sep 12 2018 Jacobsen Norman 1918 Winkle Twinkle and Lollypop Katharine Sturges Dodge illust P F Volland 1919 Believe You Me New York George H Doran 1920 It Pays to Smile New York George H Doran p 286 1921 West Broadway George H Doran 1922 Laughter limited New York A L Burt p 341 1922 Tomorrow We Diet George H Doran p 90 1923 Say It with Bricks A Few Remarks About Husbands George H Doran p 33 1923 Say It with Oil A Few Remarks About Wives George H Doran p 25 1926 Easy Burt p 269 1930 Laughing through being the autobiographical story of a girl who made her way New York Sears Pub Co p 340 Jacobsen Norman 1935 Adventures in the Open In which Winkle Twinkle and Lollypop discover the elements of the world about them Katharine Sturges Dodge illust New York Wise Book Co p 112 1940 The Inner Voice New York Sheridan House p 309 1950 Lynn Cover Girl Messner p 186 1950 A Career for Lynn New York Avon Book Division the Hearst Corporation p 128 1962 Second hand book Greenwich Conn Fawcett Publications References edit a b Robert Faulkner Putnam and Miss lnez Coralie Wilcox Married in the Old First Presbyterian Church The New York Times 6 October 1907 Williams Steven July 28 1941 Would Punish Fatties by Law Nina Wilcox Putnam Says Fat Ugly Ones Are Offensive The Windsor Daily Star a b Introducing Nina Wilcox Putnam Whose Serial Paris Love Begins Thursday in The News Bee The Toledo News Bee January 24 1933 Bennett David J 2007 He Almost Changed the World The Life and Times of Thomas Riley Marshall AuthorHouse p 177 ISBN 978 1 4259 6562 4 Treichler Paula A Reagan Leslie J Tomes Nancy 2008 Medicine s Moving Pictures Medicine Health and Bodies in American Film and Television Rochester N Y University of Rochester Press p 42 ISBN 978 1 58046 306 5 I M T May 1913 Nina Wilcox Putnam The American Magazine 75 34 36 Putnam Nina Wilcox 1888 1962 The FictionMags Index Retrieved January 29 2012 Wilcox Putnam Nina August 29 1926 I and George Knock Out Flies St Petersburg Times Wilcox Putnam Nina December 21 1928 Witty Kitty St Joseph News Press Joshi S T 2007 Icons of Horror And the Supernatural An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares Volume 1 Westport Conn Greenwood Press p 395 ISBN 978 0 313 33780 2 Soldiers Pictures The Horsham Times June 6 1924 a b Writer To Be Buried Near Mexican Home Reading Eagle March 9 1962 This Time It s the Man Who Pays The Milwaukee Journal February 17 1924 Nina s Husband Denies Divorce Pact by Writer Providence News April 28 1924 Nina Wilcox Putman Wed for Third Time The Milwaukee Journal September 13 1931 Milestones Time July 24 1933 Archived from the original on November 22 2010 Further reading editNina Wilcox Putnam Papers Yale Collection of American Literature Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Riley Philip J 2010 Cagliostro The King of the Dead An Alternate History for Classic Film Monsters Albany GA BearManor Media ISBN 978 1 59393 476 7 External links editWorks by Nina Wilcox Putnam at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Nina Wilcox Putnam at Internet Archive Works by Nina Wilcox Putnam at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nina Wilcox Putnam amp oldid 1191339785, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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