Jump to content

James Curtis (biographer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Curtis is an American biographer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Curtis writes about important figures from the early days of film.[1]

Work

[edit]

Curtis's publications include biographies of comedian W. C. Fields, director and screenwriter Preston Sturges, director James Whale, production designer William Cameron Menzies,[2] actor Spencer Tracy.[3] and comedian Mort Sahl. Curtis spent six years researching and writing Spencer Tracy: A Biography (2011). Film critic Leonard Maltin praised the work, saying in his review, "It represents a high-water mark in this field: a scrupulously researched life story that is also well-written and completely absorbing, through 878 pages of text".[4]

He received the Special Jury Prize of the Theatre Library Association in 2004 for W. C. Fields: A Biography.[5]

In 2022, Curtis wrote a biography of Buster Keaton entitled Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Biography". JamesCurtis.com. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  2. ^ William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come, by James Curtis, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Nov 17, 2015
  3. ^ Basinger, Jeanine (October 29, 2011). "Book Review: Spencer Tracy. 'Hollywood's Favorite Actor'". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ Maltin, Leonard (November 9, 2011). "Spencer Tracy: A Biography—Book review". Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy. Indiewire. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  5. ^ "Richard Wall Memorial Award - Winners, 1974-Present". Theatre Library Association. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  6. ^ Kamp, David (February 3, 2022). "How Buster Keaton Turned Slapstick — and Movies — Into Art". The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
[edit]