Ruth Wightman
Ruth Wightman | |
|---|---|
 Wightman in 1924 | |
| Born | Ruth C. Wightman August 15, 1897 Jamestown, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 19, 1939 (aged 41) Alameda, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Novelist, screenwriter |
| Spouse | Gouverneur Morris (m. 1923) |
Ruth Wightman (August 15, 1897 – April 19, 1939) was an American screenwriter and race car driver who was married to the novelist Gouveneur Morris.
Biography
[edit]Ruth, an only child, was born in Jamestown, New York, to John Wightman and Lulu Russell.
Ever the adventurer, she had a passion for flying, and was noted as being one of the first women in the United States to be granted a pilot's license.[1] She also competed in car races in Stockton, California, as a young woman, and was involved in a fatal crash in 1918.[2]
In 1923, she married author Governeur Morris, for whom she had formerly worked as a secretary before beginning a career in the scenario department at Samuel Goldwyn Studio.[3] The pair kept their marriage out of the newspapers for a year, as Morris was still waiting to be granted a divorce from his first wife, Elsie; they then held a second marriage ceremony to seal the deal and comply with California law.[4]
Wightman died at a sanitarium in Alameda, New Mexico, in 1939 after a brief illness.[5] She was survived by her husband; the pair had no children.
Selected filmography
[edit]- The Beautiful Liar (1921)[6]
- The Ace of Hearts (1921)
References
[edit]- ^ "Late Deaths". The Casper Star-Tribune. 20 Apr 1939. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ "Woman Auto Racer Killed; Five Other Persons Hurt". The New York Tribune. 4 Mar 1918. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ "Writers Will Eschew Golf on Second Honeymoon". The Evening Sun. 28 Jul 1924. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ "Man Weds Wife". The Morning Register. 27 Jul 1924. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ "Obituary: Wife of Noted Writer". The Daily News. 20 Apr 1939. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ "Screen Plays". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 20 Aug 1922. Retrieved 2019-09-02.