Horton Foote Biography (1916-)

Born March 14, 1916, in Wharton, TX; son of Albert Horton (a shopkeeper) andHallie (maiden name, Brooks) Foote; married Lillian Vallish (a theatrical producer), June 4, 1945 (died August 5, 1992); children: Barbara Hallie, AlbertHorton, Walter Vallish, Daisy Brooks. Addresses: Agent: InternationalCreative Management, 8942 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211.; Home: 505N. Houston St., Wharton, TX 77488.; Office: c/o Luckyroll, 390 West End Ave., New York, NY 10024.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor
Birth Details: March 14, 1916; Wharton, Texas, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Coproducer, Tender Mercies, 1983
Executive producer, The Trip to Bountiful, Island Pictures, 1985
Film Appearances
Himself, Fearful Symmetry (also known as Fearful Symmetry: TheMaking of "To Kill a Mockingbird"), 1998
Stage Appearances
Robert Emmet (one-act), Hudson Theatre, New York City, 1939
The Coggerers (one-act), Hudson Theatre, 1939
Lorenzo (one-act), Hudson Theatre, 1939
The Red Velvet Coat (one-act), Hudson Theatre, 1939
Chief Outourou's brother, Mr. Banks of Birmingham (one-act), Hudson Theatre, 1939
Texas Town, American Actors Company, New York City, 1942
Also appeared in The Eternal Road and The Fifth Column, both New York City.
Major Tours
Yankee Doodle Comes to Town, 1940
Stage Director
Goodbye to Richmond, 1946
The Roads to Home, Lamb's Theatre, New York City, 1992
When They Speak of Rita, Primary Stages, New York City, 2000
Also directed Night Seasons.
Television Appearances
Movies
Voice of Old Horace, Lily Dale, Showtime, 1996
WRITINGS
Plays
Wharton Dance, produced at American Actors Theatre, New York City,1940
Texas Town, produced at Weidman Studio, New York City, 1941 then Provincetown Playhouse, New York City, 1942
Only the Heart, produced at American Actors Company, ProvincetownPlayhouse, 1942 published by Dramatists Play Service (New York City), 1944
Out of My House, produced in New York City, 1942
Two Southern Idylls (double-bill; includes Miss Lou and The Girls), produced at Neighborhood Playhouse, New York City, 1943
The Lonely, produced at Neighborhood Playhouse, 1944
Goodbye to Richmond, produced at Neighborhood Playhouse, 1944 alsoproduced in 1946
Daisy Lee (one-act), produced at 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association, New York City, 1944
Homecoming, produced at King-Smith School of the Creative Arts, Washington, DC, 1944
In My Beginning, produced at King-Smith School of the Creative Arts, 1944
People in the Show, produced at King-Smith School of the CreativeArts, 1944
Return, produced at King-Smith School of the Creative Arts, 1944
Celebration, produced at American National Theatre and Academy, New York City, 1950
The Chase, produced at Playhouse, New York City, 1952 published byDramatists Play Service, 1952
The Traveling Lady, produced at Playhouse, 1954 published by Dramatists Play Service.
John Turner Davis (one-act), produced at Sheridan Square Playhouse, New York City, 1956
The Midnight Caller (one-act), produced at Sheridan Square Playhouse, 1956 published by Dramatists Play Service.
The Trip to Bountiful, produced at Greenwich Mews Theatre, New York City, 1962 published by Dramatists Play Service.
Roots in a Parched Ground (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home" cycle), published by Dramatists Play Service, 1962
(With Robert Duvall) Tomorrow (based on the short story by WilliamFaulkner), produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, New York City, 1968 published by Dramatists Play Service, 1963
(Author of book) Gone with the Wind, produced at Drury Lane Theatre, London, 1972 then Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, 1973
A Young Lady of Property, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1976
Night Seasons, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1977 later Bergen Community College, Teaneck, NJ, 1993 then Signature Theatre Company, 1994
Courtship (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home" cycle),produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1978 published by Dramatists Play Service, and with Valentine's Day and 1918, Grove Press, 1987
1918 (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home" cycle), produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1979 later Delaware Theatre Company, Wilmington, 1988-1989 published with Valentine's Day and Courtship,Grove Press, 1987
In a Coffin in Egypt, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1980
Valentine's Day, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1980 published with 1918 and Courtship, Grove Press, 1987
The Man Who Climbed the Pecan Trees, produced at Loft Theatre, LosAngeles, 1981 later produced as part of Marathon '88: Series C, Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1988-1989
The Old Friends, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1982
The Roads to Home (contains three one-acts: "Nightingale," "The Dearest of Friends," and "Spring Dance"), produced at Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, New York City, 1982 revived at Lamb's Theatre, New York City, 1992 published by Dramatists Play Service.
Cousins (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home" cycle), produced at Loft Theatre, 1983
"The Road to the Graveyard" (one-act), produced as part of Marathon '85, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York City, 1985

Courtship/Valentine's Day, produced at Stage One, Dallas, TX, 1985
One Armed Man, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1985
The Prisoner's Song, produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1985
Blind Date (one-act), produced at HB Playwrights Foundation, 1985then produced as part of Marathon '86, Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1986 published by Dramatists Play Service.
The Widow Claire (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home"cycle), produced at Circle in the Square, New York City, 1986
Lily Dale (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home" cycle),produced at Samuel Beckett Theatre, New York City, 1986-1987
The Habitation of Dragons, produced at Pittsburgh Public Theatre,1988
The Death of Papa (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home"cycle), produced at Hartford Stage Company, Hartford, CT, 1999 published byDramatists Play Service, 1989
Dividing the Estate, produced at McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ,1989
Talking Pictures, produced at Asolo Theatre Company, Sarasota, FL,1990 later Signature Theatre Company, New York City, 1994
Laura Dennis, produced at Signature Theatre Company, 1995
The Young Man from Atlanta, produced at Signature Theatre Company,1995 then Huntington Theatre, Boston, MA, 1995 later Alley Theatre, Houston,TX, 1996 published by Penguin.
Vernon Early, produced at Carolyn Blount Theatre, Montgomery, AL,1998
The Last of the Thortons, produced at Signature Theatre, 2000
The Carpetbagger's Children, produced at Stages Repertory Theatre,Houston, TX, 2001
Also wrote Themes and Variations, produced by Productions, Inc., Washington, DC; and Convicts (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans'Home" cycle).
Play Collections
A Young Lady of Property (contains The Dancers, A YoungLady of Property, The Old Beginning, John Turner Davis, Death of the Old Man, and The Oil Well), Dramatists Play Service,1954
Harrison, Texas: Eight Television Plays, Harcourt (San Diego, CA),1959
Three Plays (contains Roots in a Parched Ground, The OldMan, and Tomorrow), Harcourt, 1962
Selected One-Act Plays, Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX), 1989
Three Trips to Bountiful, Southern Methodist University, 1993
Horton Foote: Four New Plays (includes Habitation of Dragons, Night Seasons, Dividing the Estate, and Talking Pictures), Smith and Kraus (Newbury, VT), 1993
Getting Frankie Married--And Afterwards: And Other Plays, Smith and Kraus, 1998
Screenplays
Storm Fear, United Artists, 1956
To Kill a Mockingbird, Universal, 1963 published with The Tripto Bountiful and Tender Mercies, Grove Press, 1989
Baby, the Rain Must Fall (based on his play The Traveling Lady), Columbia, 1965
Hurry Sundown, 1967
Tomorrow (based on a story by William Faulkner), Filmgroup, 1971
Tender Mercies, Universal, 1983 published with The Trip to Bountiful and To Kill a Mockingbird, Grove Press, 1989
1918, Cinecom International, 1984
On Valentine's Day (one of nine plays making up the "Orphans' Home" cycle; also known as Story of a Marriage), Angelika Films, 1985
The Trip to Bountiful, Island Pictures, 1985 published with Tender Mercies and To Kill a Mockingbird, Grove Press, 1989
Courtship, 1986
Convicts (based on his play), Management Company Entertainment Group, 1991
Of Mice and Men (based on the novel by John Steinbeck), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1992
Pastor's Son, 1993
The Man of the House, 1994
Lily Dale (based on his play), Producers Entertainment Group, 1996
Television Plays
Only the Heart, NBC, 1947
Ludie Brooks, CBS, 1951
The Travelers, NBC, 1952
Rocking Chair, NBC, 1953
Shadow of Willie Greer, NBC, 1954
Roads to Home, ABC, 1955
Drugstore: Sunday Noon, ABC, 1956
Member of the Family, CBS, 1957
The Displaced Person, PBS, 1977
Barn Burning, PBS, 1980
The Habitation of Dragons, TNT, 1992
Lily Dale, Showtime, 1996
Old Man (also known as William Faulkner's Old Man), CBS, 1997
Alone (also known as Horton Foote's Alone), Showtime, 1997
Television Episodes
The Gabby Hayes Show, NBC, 1950-1951
"The Old Beginning," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"A Young Lady of Property," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"The Trip to Bountiful," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"The Oil Well," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"Expectant Relations," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"The Tears of My Sister," Gulf Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"Midnight Caller," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"John Turner Davis," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"Death of an Old Man," Gulf Playhouse, NBC, 1953
"The Dancers," Philco Television Playhouse, NBC, 1954
"Flight," Playhouse 90, NBC, 1956
"The Old Man" (adapted from the William Faulkner work), Playhouse 90, CBS, 1959
"The Shape of the River," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1960
"The Night of the Storm" (also known as "Roots in a Parched Ground"), DuPont Show of the Month, CBS, 1960
"Tomorrow" (adapted from William Faulkner's short story), Playhouse 90, CBS, 1960
The DuPont Show of the Week, NBC, 1961
"The Gambling Heart," DuPont Show of the Month, NBC, 1964
"Barn Burning" (adapted from William Faulkner's work), American ShortStory, 1980
"The Story of a Marriage" (five-part series based on Courtship, Valentine's Day, and 1918), American Playhouse, PBS, 1987
"Old Man," Hallmark Hall of Fame, 1996
Also wrote "The Displaced Person" (adapted from Flannery O'Connor's work), American Short Story; "Keeping On," American Playhouse, PBS;and episodes for Studio One and U.S. Steel Hour.
Novels
The Chase, Holt (New York), 1956
Autobiography
Farewell: A Memoir of a Texas Childhood, Scribner (New York), 1999
Beginnings: A Memoir, Scribner, 2001
Other
(With Keith Carter) From Uncertain to Blue, 1989

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

The Chase was adapted for film by Lillian Hellman for Columbia, 1966.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 31, Gale, 1989
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 26: American Screenwriters, Gale, 1984

Electronic

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale Group, 2000

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