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. |
| Occupations | Novelist, screenwriter |
| Spouse | Gouverneur Morris (m. 1923) |
Ruth Wightman (August 15, 1897 – April 19, 1939) was an American screenwriter, aviator, 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)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Late Deaths". The Casper Star-Tribune. April 20, 1939. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ↑ "Woman Auto Racer Killed; Five Other Persons Hurt". The New York Tribune. March 4, 1918. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ↑ "Writers Will Eschew Golf on Second Honeymoon". The Evening Sun. July 28, 1924. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ↑ "Man Weds Wife". The Morning Register. July 27, 1924. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ↑ "Obituary: Wife of Noted Writer". The Daily News. April 20, 1939. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ↑ "Screen Plays". The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 20, 1922. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
Further reading
[edit]- Wild Bird: The True Jazz Age Tale of Ruth Wightman Morris by John A. Greenwald, ISBN 0997736704
External links
[edit]- Ruth Wightman(1893-1963) IMDB (accessed November 30, 2024)
- Ruth Wightman materials at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections