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Valentine Davies Biography (1905-1961)

Born August 25, 1905, in New York, NY; died of a heart attack, July 23, 1961,in Malibu, CA; son of J. Clarence (a realtor) and Rosalie (Loewi) Davies; married Elizabeth Strauss, October 9, 1926; children: John Phillips, Judith Clare. Career: Writer, director, and producer. Served as vice president and member of board of directors for the Motion Picture Relief Fund; served aspresident and member of board of directors for the Permanent Charities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry; served as president of the ScreenwritersGuild. Military service: U.S. Coast Guard, served during World War II; became lieutenant. Awards, Honors: Academy Award, best writing of anoriginal story, 1947, for Miracle on 34th Street; Academy Award nomination, best writing of a motion picture story, 1949, for It Happens EverySpring; Academy Award nominations, best writing of original story and best screenplay, both 1954, for The Glenn Miller Story; Academy Award nomination, best documentary short subject, 1956, for The House without a Name..

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Occupation

Writer, director, producer

Birth Details

August 25, 1905

New York, New York, United States

Death Details

July 23, 1961

Malibu, California, United States

Famous Works

• CREDITS
• Film Work
• Director, The Benny Goodman Story, Universal, 1956
• Producer, The House without a Name (documentary short film), 1956
• WRITINGS
• Screenplays
• Syncopation (based on his story "The Band Played On"), RKO Radio Pictures, 1941
• Three Little Girls in Blue (based on the play Three Blind Mice by Stephen Powys), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1946
• (With Elick Moll) You Were Meant for Me, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1948
• (With George Seaton) Chicken Every Sunday, Twentieth Century-Fox,1948
• It Happens Every Spring (based on the novel of the same title by Shirley W. Smith), 1949
• (With Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron) On the Riviera, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1951
• Sailor of the King (also known as Brown on Resolution and Single Handed; based on the novel Brown on Resolution by C. S. Forester), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1953
• (With Oscar Brodney) The Glenn Miller Story, Universal, 1954
• The Bridges at Toko-Ri (based on the novel by James Michener), Paramount, 1955
• (With Beirne Lay, Jr.) Strategic Air Command (based on a story byLay), Paramount, 1955
• The Benny Goodman Story, Universal, 1956
• (With Hal Kantor) Bachelor in Paradise, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1961
• Stage Plays
• House of Juke (one-act), Samuel French, 1930
• Three Times the Hour, 1931
• Keeper of the Keys (based on a novel by Earl Derr Biggers), 1933
• Blow Ye Winds, 1937
• Television Plays
• Author of the plays Auf Wiedersehen and The Road to Christmas.
• Novels
• Miracle on 34th Street, Harcourt, 1947
• It Happens Every Spring, Farrar, Straus, 1949

Further Reference

Adaptations:

• Davies's novel Miracle on 34th Street was adapted for the screen by George Seaton and released (also known as The Big Heart) by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1947. Miracle on 34th Street was remade and releasedby Twentieth Century-Fox in 1994. The film It Started with a Kiss, released in 1959, was also based on a novel by Davies.

Other Sources

Periodicals

• Newsweek, August 7, 1961
• New York Times July 25, 1961, p. 27.
• Publishers Weekly, August 21, 1961, p. 76.
• Time, August 4, 1961, *