Biography
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Guy Endore, who acted as one of the "fronts" during the Hollywood blacklist era before being blacklisted himself, was born Samuel Goldstein in New York City on July 4, 1900. His father, Isidor Goldestein, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, worked variously as a coal miner, inventor, and investor. The family lived in poverty, and when Samuel was four, his mother, Malka Hapern Isidore, took her own life.
Following his wife's death, Isidor changed the family surname to Endore and placed his children in a Methodist orphanage. After selling an invention that brought him wealth, he sent Guy and his siblings to Vienna, Austria, for their education, where they were raised by a Catholic governess. After five years, their father disappeared from their lives, and the children returned to Pittsburgh.
Despite financial struggles, Samuel Guy Endore earned enough to attend Columbia University in New York, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1923. It is said he rented out his bed to another student and slept on the floor. He completed his master's degree at Columbia two years later and married Henrietta Portugal shortly after finishing his studies.
In 1935, Guy Endore moved to Hollywood. Although his screenwriting credits were limited after an initial burst in 1935, he maintained a successful career until he was blacklisted in the 1950s. Fascinated by the occult, he contributed to horror films such as Mark of the Vampire (1935), Mad Love (1935), The Raven (1935), and The Devil-Doll (1936). Hypnotism was a recurring theme in his work; his novel Methinks The Lady, centered on hypnosis, was adapted into the classic film noir Whirlpool (1950) by producer-director Otto Preminger in 1949.
Endore developed leftist political leanings during his time at Columbia. Having endured hardships and witnessing the Great Depression after earning his M.A., he joined the Communist Party and contributed articles to New Masses and other communist publications.
Although never subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Endore was eventually blacklisted. He used his wife's brother-in-law, Harry Relis, as a front, having himself served as a front for Dalton Trumbo before his own blacklisting.
In 1945, he received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of Story of G.I. Joe. His final credit was the 1969 television movie Fear No Evil.
Guy Endore passed away in Los Angeles on February 12, 1970, at the age of 69.
