Catherine Turney

Catherine Turney (December 26, 1906 – September 9, 1998) was an American writer and screenwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was active from the 1930s to the 1970s. She was one of the first women writers to become a contract worker at Warner Brothers, where she worked from 1943 to 1948 on films such as The Man I Love, A Stolen Life, and My Reputation.

Early life and education Turney and her parents, George W. and Elizabeth Blamer Turney, moved from Chicago to Rome, New York, where she spent most her of her childhood. In 1921, they moved to Pasadena, California.

Early career In the 1930s, she had early success in theater with her plays Bitter Harvest (1936), performed in London, and due to the work's positive reviews and thinking she was English and not American, she was offered a job from MGM. She then worked on the film The Bride Wore Red (1937) which was an adaptation of Ferenc Molnár's unproduced play, The Girl from Trieste, which was later handed to another screenwriter, Joe Mankiewicz. She became known for writing for some of the biggest stars of the time, such as Rosalind Russell, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck among others. When Mildred Pierce was nominated for Best Screenplay Writing at the 1946 Academy Awards, Turney did not receive on-screen credit and therefore was technically never nominated for an Academy Award.

Winter Meeting (1948) was Turney's last film with Warner Brothers as she would later join Paramount Pictures for the writing of No Man of Her Own in 1949.

Personal life Turney was married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to actor Cyril E. Armbrister (1896–1966) from 1931 to 1938 and Clifford Guthrie "George" Reynolds from February 18, 1940, to 1949. She was in a long-term relationship with California artist Lenard Kester, but they never married. The Other One, her first novel published in 1952, was adapted into a film in 1957 under the title Back from the Dead, which she wrote the screenplay for.

Despite the successes in her career, Turney is said to have lived most of her life suffering from financial troubles.

Turney died in her sleep at the age of 92 in her Sierra Madre, California home. She is survived by a nephew and a niece.

Filmography