Malcolm Stuart Boylan

Malcolm Stuart Boylan (April 13, 1897 – April 3, 1967) was an American screenwriter, writer, and founder of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Screenwriting Boylan entered the entertainment industry as a stage actor while working as a newspaper reporter and publicist at the Los Angeles Express Tribune. He became acquainted with the business of film in the early 1920s when he took the position of director of publicity for Universal and First National. He began supervising a weekly newsreel for Universal. Boylan became editorial supervisor for Fox Pictures and, in 1925, he began to create silent-film screen titles for fun. He made a name for himself by writing titles for the 1926 silent version of What Price Glory. The quality of his work was so good that he was soon listed in credits as "Title Designer" in The Great K&A Train Robbery with Tom Mix.

Yachting and Coast Guard Having been surrounded by Lake Michigan while growing up in Chicago, as well as by the Atlantic Ocean while he was educated in Bermuda, Boylan was interested in sea-going and its vessels. Actors and athletes founded their own Yacht Clubs. In 1933, writers in the Los Angeles area banded together to form their own yacht club with membership exclusive to writers. Boylan was the original Vice-Commodore of this organization which was named the Pacific Writer's Yacht Club. In 1934, after having been elected Commodore of the Yacht Club, Boylan invited Lt. Francis C. Pollard (commander of the US Coast Guard Cutter Aurora stationed in the Los Angeles Harbor) to join him on a voyage being conducted by the Yacht Club after Pollard donated his time to inspect the seaworthiness of club vessels. During the trip from Los Angeles to Catalina Island, discussions between the two men resulted in the formation of the United States Coast Guard Reserve and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Personal Boylan was the son of American writer Grace Duffie Boylan and newspaper reporter/horse racing expert, Robert J. Boylan. He was educated via a tutor as well as in the education system in Bermuda. Boylan was married twice. He wed Josephine Fountaine (sometimes spelled "Fontaine") when he was 21 years old. Josephine, the daughter of Colbert Fountaine, came from a large Quebecois-American family with many siblings including Frances Fountaine Frakes and Colbert D. Fountaine, a World War II bombardier Josephine and Malcolm had two children, Grace and Mary Boylan. Boylan's grandson, Hon. Anthony Boylan Drewry, served as a Los Angeles County Court Commissioner for many years. Boylan was married a second time when he wed Ladessa Gibson Boylan in 1947. Malcolm Stuart Boylan was born in Chicago, Illinois, lived in Los Angeles, California, during his writing career, and died in Hollywood, California.

Selected filmography

The Magnificent Brute (1921) The Fate of a Flirt (1925) Wild Papa (1925) What Price Glory? (1926) 3 Bad Men (1926) The Blue Eagle (1926) Hands Across the Border (1926) The Great K&A Train Robbery (1926) The Joy Girl (1927) Pajamas (1927) The Wizard (1927) Sharp Shooters (1928) News Parade (1928) Woman Wise (1928) Road House (1928) Hangman's House (1928) Strong Boy (1929) Fugitives (1929) Trent's Last Case (1929) Shipmates (1931) Madame Racketeer (1932) O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935) A Yank at Oxford (1938) The Lady's from Kentucky (1938) The Devil Pays Off (1941) Mercy Island (1941) Red River Valley (1941) Sailors on Leave (1941) Remember Pearl Harbor (1942) Alaska (1944) The Man Who Dared (1946) Alias Mr. Twilight (1946) For the Love of Rusty (1947) The Son of Rusty (1947) Keeper of the Bees (1947) Customs Agent (1950) Soldiers Three (1951) Magic Fountain (1963)