- Born
- Died
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Writer / director Frank Tuttle, whose Hollywood career stretched from
the silent movie era to the dawn of the 1960s, was born on August 6,
1892, in New York City. His first credit in the movie industry was as a
screenwriter for the Monte Blue picture
The Kentuckians (1921) in 1921
for Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount). He made his directorial debut the
following year with the melodrama
The Cradle Buster (1922),
starring Osgood Perkins. A contract
director at Paramount, he directed 73 more movies before hanging up his
megaphone after 1959's
Island of Lost Women (1959).
His output included films ranging from the classic
This Gun for Hire (1942)--the
film that made Alan Ladd a star--to
the
Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy
farce
Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939).
Tuttle worked in every genre, including slapstick, and with greats and
near-greats, from silent stars
Clara Bow,
Evelyn Brent,
Louise Brooks,
Thomas Meighan and
Gloria Swanson to sound-era stand-outs
Jean Arthur,
Mary Astor,
William Bendix,
Joan Blondell,
Eddie Cantor,
Bing Crosby,
William Demarest,
Cary Grant,
Veronica Lake,
Fredric March,
Adolphe Menjou,
William Powell,
Robert Preston,
Edward G. Robinson,
Charles Ruggles,
Simone Signoret and
Phil Silvers.
Tuttle became notorious during the Hollywood Red Scare for his
associations with the American Communist Party, revealed in testimony
before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Not only had
the director had been a member of the Communist Party, but he had
hosted Party get-togethers in his New York City home, which served as
the site for one meeting of party members attended by V.J. Jerome.
Jerome was a cultural commissar for the Communist Party USA, who served
as editor of its theoretical journal "The Communist" (later retitled
"Political Affairs"). In 1951 Jerome was indicted for subversion under
the Smith Act along with other members of the Communist Party.
Convicted, he was imprisoned for three years.
Lionel Stander, who was blacklisted, was
at the Jerome meeting at Tuttle's home.
The same year the Communist Party leadership was indicted along with
Jerome, Tuttle returned to the US to play tattle-tale. In an appearance
before HUAC, he admitted to being a Party member from 1937-47,
when he quit the party as it had become "too violent" for his taste
(Jerome and other Communist Party leaders were indicted for advocating
the violent overthrow of the U.S. government). Tuttle went through the
ritual of "naming names", including that of director
Jules Dassin, who himself was blacklisted
and forced into exile in Europe. Avoiding the blacklist by his public
show of contrition, Tuttle continued to direct in Hollywood, but
ironically his career ended in 1959, the year that the blacklist was
broken when Otto Preminger and
Kirk Douglas openly hired
blacklisted Hollywood 10 member
Dalton Trumbo to write the scripts for
Exodus (1960) and
Spartacus (1960), respectively.
Frank Tuttle died on January 6, 1963, in Los Angeles, California. He
was 70 years old.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
- SpousesFredericka StaatsCarla Boehm (his death)
- "Named names" before the House Un-American Activities Committee, including that of director Jules Dassin. Dassin was blacklisted and had to go into exile in Europe.
- Wrote for "Vanity Fair" magazine before entering the film business as a
screenwriter. - Children: Frederica and Helen
- Graduate of Yale University.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content