Willis Goldbeck

Who was Willis Goldbeck?

Willis Goldbeck was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 40 films between 1923 and 1962. He also directed ten films between 1942 and 1951. Willis graduated from Worcester Academy.

Willis Goldbeck was born in New York City, a former journalist, Goldbeck entered films as a screenwriter in the early 1920s. He wrote most of the "Dr. Kildare" series for MGM, starting with the first one, Young Dr. Kildare, and directed several of them. Although he directed several more films after that—including one of Burt Lancaster's more enjoyable early swashbucklers, Ten Tall Men--he mainly concentrated on screenwriting, and in the mid-'50s turned to producing. He retired from films in 1962. He died September 17, 1979 in Sag Harbor, New York, a month before his 81st birthday.