James Costigan

Who was James Costigan?

James Costigan was an American television actor and Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter. His writing credited included the Eleanor and Franklin and Love Among the Ruins television movies.

Costigan was born on March 31, 1926, in Belvedere Gardens in East Los Angeles, where his parents owned and operated a hardware store. He first achieved some level of success in the 1950s, when he began being hired to write television anthology series, such as Studio One and Kraft Television Theatre. Costigan won his first Emmy for original teleplay in 1959 for Little Moon of Alban, a segment which appeared as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The segment, which starred Christopher Plummer and Julie Harris, was set during the Irish War of Independence.

Costigan earned a second Emmy nomination in for his script adaptation of The Turn of the Screw in 1959. He did not win the award, but acclaimed actress Ingrid Bergman won an Emmy for her performance in The Turn of the Screw.

Costigan increasingly began writing for Broadway theater, as the format of television began to change. His Broadway credits included Baby Want a Kiss, a 1964 comedy which starred Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.