Dalene Young obit

Dalene Young, ‘Little Darlings’ and ‘Cross Creek’ Screenwriter, Dies at 85

The Daytime Emmy nominee also worked on such acclaimed telefilms as ‘Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway,’ ‘Will There Really Be a Morning?’ and ‘Locked in Silence.’

 She was not on the list.

Dalene Young, the screenwriter whose credits included the coming-of-age comedy-drama Little Darlings, featuring Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol, and the Mary Steenburgen-starring drama Cross Creek, has died. She was 85.

Young died May 9 in Portland, Oregon, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, her husband, director Robert Martin Carroll, announced.

Young received a Daytime Emmy nomination for co-writing the 1999 Showtime children’s special Locked in Silence and landed a Christopher Award and a Humanitas Prize nomination for her work on the 1992 NBC telefilm Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted.

She also wrote the films The Baby-Sitters Club (1995) and Baby Luv (2000) and other telefilms, including 1983’s Will There Really Be a Morning? — based on actress Frances Farmer’s autobiography — 2000’s The Last Dance and 2002’s Miss Lettie and Me.

“In her heyday, she was arguably the top writer of made-for-television movies,” her husband noted.

Young had a long career on the stage as well, and her most recent acting credit came in the independent film Pig (2021), starring Nicolas Cage.

Little Darlings (1980), which Young co-wrote with Kimi Peck, was a hit for Paramount, grossing $34.3 million domestically off a budget of $5.3 million.

Soon after, she was hired by producer Robert B. Radnitz to adapt Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ memoir Cross Creek, about the writer’s experiences in rural Florida in the 1930s. The 1983 Universal film, directed by Martin Ritt, featured Rip Torn, Alfre Woodard and Peter Coyote alongside Steenburgen and drew Oscar noms for Torn, Woodard, costume design and score.

Born in Hawaii in 1939, Young spent her early years in Kuliouou, outside Honolulu, on a farm her family had inherited from the last king of Hawaii. While playing with animals and surfing, she developed an interest in acting, particularly during her time at the Punahou School, where President Obama would attend as well.

After graduation, Young moved to San Francisco and a few months later to New York, where she sang in bars and clubs, many of which turned out to be owned by mobsters. “They wouldn’t ever let the customers put any pressure on her,” Carroll said. “They made sure she got home safe at night.”

In the early 1960s, Young became involved in the off-off-Broadway scene, performing in coffee houses and low-rent theaters. It was then that she also started writing — she didn’t care for many of the roles she was being offered — and among her plays was 1969’s What Color Is Love?

She was “not only a talented, bright playwright, but one of the most brilliant young actresses in our midst,” Theatre Arts magazine once wrote.

Young left New York for Los Angeles in the late ’60s after being hired by famed producer Ray Stark. She made friends with such bohemian characters as Timothy Leary, but, not caring for the commercial Hollywood world and missing the theater, returned to New York a few months later. This time, she had a husband, Carroll, whom she had met at her going-away party.

Hollywood beckoned again a year later, and she had her first big hit with the 1976 NBC movie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, a ratings winner that starred Eve Plumb and was critically admired for its frank discussion of teenage sexuality.

She also wrote such TV movies as 1978’s Deadman’s Curve, 1979’s Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze and 1980’s Marilyn: The Untold Story.

Young, for many years, ran an L.A.-based writing group before she moved to Portland in 2006. She also performed in numerous stage plays, including West Coast Ensemble productions of The Trip to Bountiful, The Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird.

In addition to her husband of 53 years — he directed the David Carradine-starring Sonny Boy (1989) — survivors include her daughter, Eden.

Stephen Galloway is dean of the film school at Chapman University.

 

Writer

Burt Reynolds, Mary Tyler Moore, Holliston Coleman, and Charles Robinson in Miss Lettie and Me (2002)

Miss Lettie and Me

5.8

TV Movie

teleplay

2002

 

Baby Luv (2000)

Baby Luv

5.5

Writer

2000

 

Eric Stoltz and Trini Alvarado in The Last Dance (2000)

The Last Dance

7.1

TV Movie

teleplay

2000

 

Going Home (2000)

Going Home

6.4

TV Movie

teleplay

2000

 

Silk Hope (1999)

Silk Hope

5.6

TV Movie

teleplay

1999

 

Locked in Silence (1999)

Locked in Silence

6.1

TV Movie

teleplay

1999

 

Maureen O'Hara, Jason Beghe, Catherine Bell, and Haley Joel Osment in Cab to Canada (1998)

Cab to Canada

7.2

TV Movie

teleplay

1998

 

David Strathairn in Evidence of Blood (1998)

Evidence of Blood

6.6

TV Movie

teleplay

1998

 

Journey of the Heart (1997)

Journey of the Heart

6.5

TV Movie

written by

1997

 

Rachael Leigh Cook, Schuyler Fisk, Bre Blair, Zelda Harris, Tricia Joe, Larisa Oleynik, and Stacy Linn Ramsower in The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)

The Baby-Sitters Club

5.7

written by

1995

 

Is There Life Out There? (1994)

Is There Life Out There?

6.8

TV Movie

written by

1994

 

The Yarn Princess (1994)

The Yarn Princess

7.1

TV Movie

written by

1994

 

Molly Orr and Lindsay Wagner in A Message from Holly (1992)

A Message from Holly

6.0

TV Movie

teleplay

1992

 

Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted (1992)

Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted

7.2

TV Movie

storyteleplay

1992

 

Living a Lie (1991)

Living a Lie

5.6

TV Movie

storyteleplay

1991

 

I Love You Perfect (1989)

I Love You Perfect

7.1

TV Movie

written by

1989

 

Valerie Harper, Tammy Lauren, Gerald McRaney, and Gregory Togel in The People Across the Lake (1988)

The People Across the Lake

5.4

TV Movie

storyteleplay

1988

 

HeartBeat

5.2

TV Movie

Writer

1985

 

Why Me? (1984)

Why Me?

6.9

TV Movie

Writer

1984

 

Cross Creek (1983)

Cross Creek

6.9

screenplay

1983

 

Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983)

Will There Really Be a Morning?

6.8

TV Movie

teleplay

1983

 

Little Darlings

5.2

TV Movie

characters

1982

 

Pale Horse Pale Rider

Short

screenplay

1980

 

Catherine Hicks in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980)

Marilyn: The Untold Story

6.5

TV Movie

Writer

1980

 

Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal in Little Darlings (1980)

Little Darlings

6.5

screenplay

1980

 

The Plutonium Incident (1980)

The Plutonium Incident

6.1

TV Movie

teleplay

1980

 

Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze (1979)

Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze

6.0

TV Movie

teleplay

1979

 

Deadman's Curve (1978)

Deadman's Curve

6.9

TV Movie

teleplay

1978

 

Melissa Gilbert in Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A. (1977)

Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.

5.8

TV Movie

written by

1977

 

Panic in Echo Park (1977)

Panic in Echo Park

5.3

TV Movie

written by

1977

 

Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (1977)

Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn

6.4

TV Movie

charactersstory

1977

 

Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976)

Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway

6.6

TV Movie

written by

1976

 

Actress

Nicolas Cage in Pig (2021)

Pig

6.9

Jezebel

2021

 

David Giuntoli in Grimm (2011)

Grimm

7.9

TV Series

Charlotte

2012

1 episode

 

Baby Luv (2000)

Baby Luv

5.5

Mrs. Newburgh

2000

 

The Cat Killers

6.8

Mean Lady

2000

 

Sonny Boy (1989)

Sonny Boy

5.7

Doc Wallace

1989

 

Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983)

Will There Really Be a Morning?

6.8

TV Movie

Hairdresser

1983

 

Pale Horse Pale Rider

Short

Towney

1980

 

Teen Lust (1978)

Teen Lust

4.0

Mother (as Dolly Carolla)

1978

 

Spencer Tracy, Peter Falk, Jim Backus, Milton Berle, Norman Fell, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Ben Blue, Joe E. Brown, Sid Caesar, Alan Carney, Chick Chandler, Barrie Chase, Lloyd Corrigan, William Demarest, Andy Devine, Selma Diamond, Paul Ford, Stan Freberg, Ethel Merman, Dorothy Provine, Phil Silvers, and Terry-Thomas in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

7.5

Extra (uncredited)

1963

 

Juke Box Racket (1960)

Juke Box Racket

6.5

Betty

1960

 

Producer

Burt Reynolds, Mary Tyler Moore, Holliston Coleman, and Charles Robinson in Miss Lettie and Me (2002)

Miss Lettie and Me

5.8

TV Movie

co-producer

2002

 

Eric Stoltz and Trini Alvarado in The Last Dance (2000)

The Last Dance

7.1

TV Movie

co-producer

2000

 

Going Home (2000)

Going Home

6.4

TV Movie

co-producer

2000

 

Silk Hope (1999)

Silk Hope

5.6

TV Movie

co-producer

1999

 

Maureen O'Hara, Jason Beghe, Catherine Bell, and Haley Joel Osment in Cab to Canada (1998)

Cab to Canada

7.2

TV Movie

co-producer

1998

 

Journey of the Heart (1997)

Journey of the Heart

6.5

TV Movie

co-producer

1997

 

The Yarn Princess (1994)

The Yarn Princess

7.1

TV Movie

co-producer

1994

 

Living a Lie (1991)

Living a Lie

5.6

TV Movie

co-producer

1991

 

I Love You Perfect (1989)

I Love You Perfect

7.1

TV Movie

co-producer

1989

 

Valerie Harper, Tammy Lauren, Gerald McRaney, and Gregory Togel in The People Across the Lake (1988)

The People Across the Lake

5.4

TV Movie

co-producer

1988

 

Why Me? (1984)

Why Me?

6.9

TV Movie

executive producer

1984

 

Additional Crew

Is There Life Out There? (1994)

Is There Life Out There?

6.8

TV Movie

consultant

1994

 

Thanks

All About Manos (2016)

All About Manos

7.4

TV Series

very special thanks

2017

3 episodes

 

Self

Edward D. Wood Jr., Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Vincent Price, James Whale, A.J. Benza, and Lon Chaney in E! Mysteries & Scandals (1998)

E! Mysteries & Scandals

8.1

TV Series

Self

1998

1 episode