John Howard Lawson
American director
Born
25 September 1984
in New York CityNew YorkUnited States
Died
11 August 1977
an American writer. He was the organization’s cultural manager and answered directly to V.J. Jerome, the
Party’s New York-based cultural chief. He was the first president of the Writers Guild of America, West after the Screen Writers Guild divided into two regional
organizations. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, he was opposed to joining. His father helped get a position in the Norton-Harjes Volunteer
Ambulance Corps. In June 1917, he left for the war and aboard the ship he met John Dos Passos. After the war he edited a newspaper in Rome. He then lived in Paris in 1920-1921, which is where he would complete Roger Bloomer. This was Lawson’s first show to reach Broadway, which opened on March 1, 1923. In 1928, Lawson moved to Hollywood where he wrote scripts for films such as The Ship for Shanghai, Bachelor Apartment, and Goodbye Love. His works: Processional (1925), Nirvana (1926), The International (1928), Success Story(1933), Marching Song (1937), Parlor Magic (1963). Best films: Success at Any Price (1934), Party Wire (1935), Adventure in Manhattan (1936), Algiers (1938), Action in the North Atlantic (1943), Sahara (1943), Counter-Attack (1945). In 1950s he was
blacklisted by film studios after he was accused of being a Communist. He was one of the "Hollywood Ten". President of the Screen Writers Guild (1933-1934).
