Lucien Hubbard

Who was Lucien Hubbard?

Lucien Hubbard was a film producer and screenwriter. He is best known for producing Wings, for which he received the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Lucien produced and or wrote ninety-two films over the course of his career. He lived in the same house in Beverly Hills until the day he died; he was an avid polo player and would frequently ride out of the stables located, in those days, at the rear of his Hillcrest Road property, to Will Rogers' house in the Palisades; he also occasionally rode his horse to Paramount Studios where he had been elevated to president shortly after the Academy Award winning Wings which he produced, was released. This film helped director William A. Wellman's rise into major studio films.

Before coming to Los Angeles, he was night editor of The New York Times. He had written five screenplays on the side and decided one day to travel to Hollywood to see if he could sell any of them; he sold three and in 1923, his career was launched. A film he loved was entitled The Vanishing American and it was the first film to portray the Indian in a favorable light; he received an award from the Cherokee nation for this film. He discovered and mentored many talents over the life of his career and was known as a very generous man with a sharp eye for good writers. He had two daughters, Betty and Janet and a brother, Harlan Hubbard, who became a renowned artist and writer, who advocated simple living.