Jules Furthman

Who was Jules Furthman?

Jules Furthman was a magazine and newspaper writer before working as a screenwriter.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was the brother of writer Charles Furthman. During World War I Jules wrote under the name "Stephen Fox." He wrote screenplays for a number of important or popular films, including: The Docks of New York, Thunderbolt, Merely Mary Ann, Shanghai Express, Bombshell, Mutiny on the Bounty, Come and Get It, Only Angels Have Wings, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep and Nightmare Alley. He wrote credited screenplays for eight films directed by Josef Von Sternberg and an equal number for Howard Hawks.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Mutiny on the Bounty.

In 1920, he married the actress Sybil Seely, who played in five films directed by Buster Keaton. She bore Furthman a son in 1921 and retired from acting in 1922. They remained together until his death.

Jules Furthman died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1966 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. His remains were brought home and interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.