Horton Foote
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998.
In addition to winning an Emmy, Foote's 1997 adaptation of Faulkner's "The Old Man" won a Humanitas Award.
Biography
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and two-time Oscar-winner Horton Foote was originally an actor who began writing plays as a member of the American Actors Theatre in order to assure himself good parts. However, when critics praised his playwriting over his acting, he eventually took the hint and devoted himself to writing that has earned acclaim for its poignant evocations of rural America. Much of Foote's work has centered around Wharton, TX, the town of his birth, from his first produced play "Wharton Dance" (1940) to the nine-play series about four generations of his Texas forebearers, "The Orphans' Home," which yielded the films "1918" (1985), "On Valentine's Day" (1986) and "Convicts" (1991), among others. In addition to adapting his own work for the screen, he has also penned screen adaptations of Harper Lee ("To Kill a Mockingbird" 1962), William Faulkner ("Tomorrow" 1972) and John Steinbeck ("Of Mice and Men" 1992).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Life Events
1936
At age 20, moved to New York City
1938
Co-founded the American Actors Theatre
1940
First one-act play, "Wharton Dance" was produced at the American Actors Theatre; also played the lead role
1942
First full-length play, "Texas Town"; also acted
1947
First televised play, "Only the Heart" (NBC)
1953
His "The Trip to Bountiful" was aired on NBC's "Philco Television Playhouse"; starred Lillian Gish
1955
First produced screenplay, "Storm Fear"
1960
Wrote the adaptation of William Faulkner's "Tomorrow"; preceded the feature version by 12 years
1962
NYC theatrical debut of "The Trip to Bountiful"; again starring Lillian Gish
1962
Wrote the screenplay adaptation for Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird"; first collaboration with actor Robert Duvall
1965
Adapted his play "The Traveling Lady" (1954 NYC debut) as the film "Baby, the Rain Must Fall"
1966
His play "The Chase" was adapted by Lillian Hellman for the screen; starred Robert Redford, Jane Fonda and Robert Duvall
1983
Debut as an associate producer (with Robert Duvall) with "Tender Mercies"
1985
Made debut as a producer with "The Trip to Bountiful"; directed by Foote's cousin Peter Masterson
1990
Provided the voice of Jefferson Davis in Ken Burns' critically-acclaimed documentary, "The Civil War"
1994
Honored by the Signature Theater Company in NYC with a season devoted to his work
1995
Earned Pulitzer Prize in Drama for "The Young Man from Atlanta"
1996
TV adaptation of his play "Lily Dale" directed by Masterston for Showtime
1997
Scripted the original teleplay "Horton Foote's Alone" (Showtime)
1997
Earned Emmy for his adaptation of "William Faulkner's Old Man"
2009
Earned a posthumous Tony Award nomination for his play, "Dividing the Estate"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998.
In addition to winning an Emmy, Foote's 1997 adaptation of Faulkner's "The Old Man" won a Humanitas Award.
He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1996.
Received the National Medal of Arts from US President Bill Clinton (2000).
"I guess I still feel sanguine about the theater. You can't kill it really. It's gonna find a way. It may be a different form, or a different venue. We may not have theater that we knew, but there's gonna be theater. There has to be. It's just too important a force, I think." --Horton Foote quoted in New York Newsday, March 8, 1995.
"I got paid the handsome sum of a thousand dollars to write 'The Trip to Bountiful'. And let me tell you, in those days that was a lot of money, at least for this writer, it was. And we got Lillian Gish to do it. And Eva Marie Saint was in it and Eileen Heckart and John Beal. And I hadn't realized the power of television. The phones didn't stop ringing that night. Well, it was a great tribute to Miss Gish, because, you know, she had fans all over America, and they were just wild to see her again. She was wonderful in it.
"They asked me to enlarge it, and I did, into a three-act play, and we took it to New York. Then, for some reason, I felt very wedded to Miss Gish doing the part in the film, and for some reason Hollywood had the notion that she wasn't bankable. So I was offered through the years--I don't know whether they were willing to do it--'I'll do this if we can get Hepburn,' or 'I'll do this if we can get . . . ,' and I said, 'No. I want Miss Gish.' And that went on until Miss Gish had her ninetieth birthday, and even I had to realize that the part was too demanding.'" --Foote quoted in Written By, September 1997.
