Biography
Frances Goodrich (December 21, 1890 – January 29, 1984) was an American playwright and screenwriter, renowned for her collaborations with her husband and partner Albert Hackett.
Born in Belleville, New Jersey, Goodrich was the daughter of Madeleine Christy (née Lloyd) and Henry Wickes Goodrich. Her family relocated to nearby Nutley when she was two years old. She married actor Robert Ames in 1917, divorcing in 1923; later, she wed writer H.W. Van Loon in 1927, divorcing in 1930; finally, she married Albert Hackett in 1931. Goodrich and Hackett remained married until her passing.
Shortly after marrying Hackett, the couple moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s to write the screenplay for their stage hit Up Pops the Devil for Paramount Pictures. In 1933, they signed a contract with MGM, staying until 1939. Early in their tenure, they wrote the screenplay for The Thin Man (1934). Director W. S. Van Dyke advised them to use Dashiell Hammett's writing merely as a foundation and focus on crafting witty dialogue for the leads, Nick and Nora Charles (played by William Powell and Myrna Loy). The resulting film became a major success and was noted for portraying a modern relationship realistically for the first time, marking a groundbreaking moment in cinema.
They earned Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay for The Thin Man, After the Thin Man (1936), Father of the Bride (1950), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1955). Their work garnered Writers Guild of America awards for Easter Parade (1949), Father's Little Dividend (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), along with nominations for In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), and The Long, Long Trailer (1954). Additionally, they won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for their original play The Diary of Anne Frank. Other notable films include Another Thin Man (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Frances Goodrich Hackett passed away from lung cancer on January 29, 1984, at 93 years old, in New York City.
