John Gay obit

 

John Gay, Screenwriter on ‘Run Silent Run Deep,’ Dies at 92

He shared an Oscar nomination for 'Separate Tables' and wrote 'The Courtship of Eddie's Father' and dozens of television movies and miniseries.

He was not on the list.

John Gay, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter best known for his work on Run Silent Run Deep, Separate Tables and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, has died. He was 92.

Gay, who began his six-decade career as an actor and writer during the Golden Age of Television, died Feb. 4 in Santa Monica, the WGA announced. He often was in demand by the top directors of the day, scripting projects for the likes of Robert Wise, John Huston, Vincente Minnelli and John Sturges.

Gay also earned an Emmy nomination for scripting Fatal Vision, a controversial NBC 1984 docudrama about the 1970 Jeffrey MacDonald murders that starred Gary Cole as the killer of his pregnant wife and two children.

After actor Burt Lancaster happened to catch one of his television shows, Gay was called to Hollywood and soon found himself on a soundstage watching Lancaster and Clark Gable as submarine commanders in his first screenplay, Run Silent Run Deep (1958), directed by Wise at United Artists.

Gay earned his Oscar nomination for co-writing, with playwright Terence Rattigan, the adapted screenplay for Separate Tables, the Delbert Mann drama that starred Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Wendy Hiller, David Niven and Lancaster. (Hiller and Niven won Oscars for their performances.)

Gay also penned the romantic comedy The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963), which starred Glenn Ford as a widowed father and Ron Howard as his son.

His other feature credits include The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962), The Hallelujah Trail (1965), No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), The Power (1968), Sometimes a Great Notion (1970), Soldier Blue (1970), Pocket Money (1972), Hennessy (1975) and A Matter of Time (1976).

Born on April 1, 1924, in Whittier, Califorinia, Gay and his wife, Barbara, starred on Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, a series for WOR in New York for which he “wrote every episode and performed every beer commercial.” That led to writing gigs on such network dramas as Playhouse 90, The Alcoa Hour, General Electric Theater, Lux Video Theatre and Goodyear Playhouse.

His TV résumé also includes the series Shadow of the Cloak and Espionage; the telefilms All My Darling Daughters, The Red Badge of Courage, The Amazing Howard Hughes, The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer, Captains Courageous, Dial M for Murder and Inherit the Wind; and the miniseries Windmills of the Gods, Around the World in 80 Days, Blind Faith and Burden of Proof.

The Writers Guild of America West honored Gay — a guild member since 1958 — with its highest honor for television writing, the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award, in 1984; the Morgan Cox Award, for guild service, in 1992; and the Edmund H. North Award, for his “courageous leadership, strength of purpose and continuing selfless activity on behalf of the guild through the years,” in 2003.

He also served on the WGAW’s board of directors (1971-75, 1977-79), was a guild vice president (1985-87) and helped lead writers through several difficult negotiations.

During one WGA strike, he wrote Diversions and Delights, a one-man play that imagined Oscar Wilde delivering a talk to a Paris theater just before his death. It opened in 1978 on Broadway, starring Vincent Price, and went on to play around the world.

In 2008, Gay published his autobiography, Any Way I Can — 50 Years in Show Business, co-written with his daughter, Jennifer Gay Summers.

She survives him, as does another daughter, Elizabeth; son Lawrence; and three grandchildren. The family asks that donations be made to the Writers Guild Foundation in honor of him.

 

Writer

Around the World in 80 Days (1999)

Around the World in 80 Days

6.7

Video

teleplay

1999

 

Summer of Fear (1996)

Summer of Fear

5.3

TV Movie

teleplay

1996

 

Trick of the Eye (1994)

Trick of the Eye

5.5

TV Movie

teleplay

1994

 

Cruel Doubt (1992)

Cruel Doubt

5.3

TV Mini Series

teleplay

1992

2 episodes

 

Beverly D'Angelo and Peter Strauss in Trial: The Price of Passion (1992)

Trial: The Price of Passion

6.9

TV Movie

teleplay

1992

 

Brian Dennehy, Hector Elizondo, and Stefanie Powers in The Burden of Proof (1992)

The Burden of Proof

5.8

TV Mini Series

teleplay

1992

2 episodes

 

Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt (1991)

Shadow of a Doubt

5.5

TV Movie

teleplay

1991

 

Blind Faith (1990)

Blind Faith

7.1

TV Mini Series

teleplay

1990

2 episodes

 

Final Notice (1989)

Final Notice

5.0

TV Movie

teleplay

1989

 

Pierce Brosnan, Eric Idle, and Julia Nickson in Around the World in 80 Days (1989)

Around the World in 80 Days

7.1

TV Mini Series

written by

1989

3 episodes

 

Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards in Inherit the Wind (1988)

Inherit the Wind

6.6

TV Movie

teleplay

1988

 

Windmills of the Gods (1988)

Windmills of the Gods

6.0

TV Mini Series

teleplay

1988

2 episodes

 

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

6.2

TV Movie

teleplay

1987

 

Six Against the Rock (1987)

Six Against the Rock

6.4

TV Movie

teleplay

1987

 

Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986)

Manhunt for Claude Dallas

5.5

TV Movie

Writer

1986

 

Doubletake (1985)

Doubletake

6.3

TV Mini Series

teleplay

1985

2 episodes

 

Fatal Vision (1984)

Fatal Vision

7.7

TV Mini Series

teleplay

1984

2 episodes

 

Samson and Delilah (1984)

Samson and Delilah

5.5

TV Movie

teleplay

1984

 

Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence, Beau Bridges, Diana Rigg, and Ralph Richardson in Witness for the Prosecution (1982)

Witness for the Prosecution

7.0

TV Movie

written for television by

1982

 

Sam Neill, Anthony Andrews, Lysette Anthony, and Olivia Hussey in Ivanhoe (1982)

Ivanhoe

6.7

TV Movie

written by

1982

 

Anthony Hopkins and Lesley-Anne Down in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

6.3

TV Movie

written for television by

1982

 

Bette Davis in A Piano for Mrs. Cimino (1982)

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino

7.7

TV Movie

teleplay

1982

 

The Long Summer of George Adams (1982)

The Long Summer of George Adams

7.3

TV Movie

Writer

1982

 

Stand by Your Man (1981)

Stand by Your Man

6.5

TV Movie

written for television by

1981

 

Angie Dickinson and Christopher Plummer in Dial 'M' for Murder (1981)

Dial 'M' for Murder

6.4

TV Movie

teleplay

1981

 

Richard Thomas in Berlin Tunnel 21 (1981)

Berlin Tunnel 21

6.8

TV Movie

written for television by

1981

 

The Bunker (1981)

The Bunker

6.8

TV Movie

written for television by

1981

 

Alice Krige and Chris Sarandon in A Tale of Two Cities (1980)

A Tale of Two Cities

6.6

TV Movie

Writer

1980

 

A Private Battle (1980)

A Private Battle

7.7

TV Movie

Writer

1980

 

Kevin Dobson and Melinda Dillon in Transplant (1979)

Transplant

6.4

TV Movie

Writer

1979

 

Les Miserables (1978)

Les Miserables

7.3

TV Movie

screenplay

1978

 

Karl Malden, Ricardo Montalban, and Jonathan Kahn in Captains Courageous (1977)

Captains Courageous

6.9

TV Movie

Writer

1977

 

Golden Rendezvous (1977)

Golden Rendezvous

5.4

screen story

1977

 

The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer (1977)

The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer

7.1

TV Movie

teleplay

1977

 

Alan Alda in Kill Me If You Can (1977)

Kill Me If You Can

7.4

TV Movie

Writer

1977

 

The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977)

The Amazing Howard Hughes

6.6

TV Movie

Writer

1977

 

Ingrid Bergman and Liza Minnelli in A Matter of Time (1976)

A Matter of Time

5.1

screenplay

1976

 

Lee Remick and Rod Steiger in Hennessy (1975)

Hennessy

6.2

screenplay

1975

 

Adventures of the Queen (1975)

Adventures of the Queen

5.0

TV Movie

teleplay

1975

 

The Red Badge of Courage (1974)

The Red Badge of Courage

6.1

TV Movie

teleplay

1974

 

Things in Their Season (1974)

Things in Their Season

7.6

TV Movie

Writer

1974

 

Fred MacMurray in The Chadwick Family (1974)

The Chadwick Family

6.3

TV Movie

screenplay

story

1974

 

Robert Young and Ruth Hussey in My Darling Daughters' Anniversary (1973)

My Darling Daughters' Anniversary

6.8

TV Movie

Writer

1973

 

All My Darling Daughters (1972)

All My Darling Daughters

6.8

TV Movie

teleplay

1972

 

Pocket Money (1972)

Pocket Money

5.4

adaptation by

1972

 

Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)

Sometimes a Great Notion

6.9

screenplay

1971

 

Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss in Soldier Blue (1970)

Soldier Blue

6.9

screenplay

1970

 

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)

No Way to Treat a Lady

7.0

screenplay by

1968

 

George Hamilton, Richard Carlson, Arthur O'Connell, and Suzanne Pleshette in The Power (1968)

The Power

5.9

screenplay

1968

 

The Last Safari (1967)

The Last Safari

5.2

Writer

1967

 

Alain Delon, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Rosemary Forsyth in Texas Across the River (1966)

Texas Across the River

6.2

screenplay collaborator (uncredited)

1966

 

Burt Lancaster and Lee Remick in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

The Hallelujah Trail

6.5

screenplay

1965

 

"The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" Kurt Russell, Jean Engstrom 1963 MGM

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters

7.4

TV Series

teleplay

1963–1964

3 episodes

 

Espionage (1963)

Espionage

7.6

TV Series

writer

1963

1 episode

 

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963)

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

7.4

TV Series

adaptation

1963

1 episode

 

Ron Howard, Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, Shirley Jones, Dina Merrill, and Roberta Sherwood in The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)

The Courtship of Eddie's Father

6.8

screenplay

1963

 

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Mutiny on the Bounty

7.2

Writer (uncredited)

1962

 

How the West Was Won (1962)

How the West Was Won

7.1

Writer (uncredited)

1962

 

Bob Dylan, David Warner, Ursula Howells, Reg Lye, and Maureen Pryor in The Madhouse on Castle Street (1963)

BBC Sunday-Night Play

8.6

TV Series

writer

1962

1 episode

 

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

6.5

screenplay

1962

 

Rita Hayworth and Rex Harrison in The Happy Thieves (1961)

The Happy Thieves

5.2

screenplay by

1961

 

Richard Davalos, Darryl Hickman, and Gigi Perreau in The Americans (1961)

The Americans

7.6

TV Series

writer

1961

2 episodes

 

Playhouse 90 (1956)

Playhouse 90

8.3

TV Series

written by

adaptation

writer

1959–1960

3 episodes

 

Armchair Theatre (1956)

Armchair Theatre

7.5

TV Series

writer

1959

1 episode

 

Separate Tables (1958)

Separate Tables

7.4

screenplay

1958

 

The Devil as a Roaring Lion

TV Movie

writer

1958

 

Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in Run Silent Run Deep (1958)

Run Silent Run Deep

7.3

screenplay

1958

 

Teledrama

TV Series

play

1956

1 episode

 

Kraft Theatre (1947)

Kraft Theatre

7.9

TV Series

written by

1956

2 episodes

 

Goodyear Playhouse (1951)

Goodyear Playhouse

7.6

TV Series

written by

1956

1 episode

 

The Stranger

TV Series

written by

teleplay

1954–1955

11 episodes

 

Center Stage (1954)

Center Stage

6.8

TV Series

Writer

1954

1 episode

 

Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950)

Armstrong Circle Theatre

7.6

TV Series

writer

1953

1 episode

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.7

TV Series

story

1953

1 episode

 

Lux Video Theatre (1950)

Lux Video Theatre

7.3

TV Series

writer

written by

1952–1953

2 episodes

 

Hollywood Opening Night

5.9

TV Series

teleplay

1953

1 episode

 

Trapped

TV Series

written by

1952

1 episode

 

Terror

TV Series

written by

1952

1 episode

 

Hands of Mystery

5.8

TV Series

written by

1951–1952

5 episodes

 

Shadow of the Cloak (1951)

Shadow of the Cloak

5.6

TV Series

Writer

1951–1952

2 episodes

 

The Ken Murray Show (1950)

The Ken Murray Show

7.2

TV Series

Writer

1952

1 episode

 

Apartment 3-C

TV Series

Writer

1949–1950

 

Actor

Apartment 3-C

TV Series

1949–1950

 

Additional Crew

"The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" Kurt Russell, Jean Engstrom 1963 MGM

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters

7.4

TV Series

executive story consultant

1963–1964

14 episodes