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Niven Busch

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Niven Busch
Busch in 1944
Born(1903-04-26)April 26, 1903
New York City, U.S.
DiedAugust 25, 1991(1991-08-25)(aged 88)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Resting placeCypress Lawn Memorial Park,Colma, California
Occupation(s)Novelist, screenwriter
Years active1932–1968
Spouses
Sofija Freijs
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​
(m.1928;div.1934)​
Phyllis Cooper
​
​
(m.1936;div.1940)​
​
​
(m.1942;div.1952)​
Carmencita Baker
​
​
(m.1956;div.1968)​
Suzanne de Sanz
​
​
(m.1974)​
Children3

Niven Busch(April 26, 1903 – August 25, 1991) was an Americannovelistandscreenwriterof movies such as the acclaimedThe Postman Always Rings Twice.His novels includedDuel in the Sun(1944) andCalifornia Street(1959). He was married to actressTeresa Wrightfor ten years beginning in 1942.

Early career

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Born in New York City, Busch began his writing career in the early twenties, when he went to work forTimeMagazine (co-founded by Busch's cousin,Briton Hadden). Before departing forHollywooda decade later, Busch had risen to editor at the weekly, working simultaneously forThe New Yorker,where he contributed profiles on famous Americans. (These articles were collected into his first book, the non-fictionTwenty-One Americans.)

In 1932, realizing he had gone as far as he was likely to go as a New York-based magazine writer/editor, Busch re-connected with agentMyron Selznick,whom Busch knew through his father, an executive who had worked for Myron's fatherLewisin the teens and early twenties.

Myron Selznick soon secured work for Busch atWarner Bros. Pictures,and Busch decamped toLos Angelesto write his first film,Howard Hawks'sThe Crowd Roars.One of four writers on the production, Busch's name was misspelled in the credits.

Film career

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Through the rest of the thirties, Busch worked for most of the major Hollywood studios, scripting mostlyB-movieslikeThe Big Shakedown.In 1938 he was nominated for anAcademy AwardforIn Old Chicago,which was based on his storyWe the O'Learys,but failed to win. In 1940 he co-wroteThe Westernerfor directorWilliam Wylerand producerSamuel Goldwyn.Soon thereafter he went to work as Goldwyn's story editor, recommendingPride of the Yankees,in whichGary Cooperand Busch's soon-to-be wifeTeresa Wrightco-starred.

Settling in the hills ofEncinowith his growing family, Busch began writing novels.The Carrington Incident,published in 1941, was followed by the best-sellerDuel in the Sun,which Lewis Selznick's other sonDavidpurchased and turned into the 1946 blockbuster ofthe same title.He now alternated between the writing of screenplays and novels, most of which became best-sellers.They Dream of Home,a tale of returning veterans, was followed byThe Furies(1950), which became a film that starredBarbara Stanwyck.

Another notable film of the period — for which Busch wrote the original screenplay — wasPursuedstarringRobert Mitchumand Teresa Wright, one of the first psychological Westerns with "noir"overtones. Around the same time, Busch also adapted the noir thrillerThe Postman Always Rings Twice(1946), forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Later career

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In the early fifties, Busch and Wright divorced, and Busch left Hollywood for northern California, where he devoted himself to cattle ranching and the full-time writing of novels. There he would meet his fourth wife Carmencita Baker and fifth wife Suzanne de Sanz.

Before Busch's final novelThe Titan Gamehe had become one of San Francisco's leading literary lights and aRegent's Professorat theUniversity of California.California Streetis about the San Francisco newspaper publishing business, with the title taken fromCalifornia Streetin the city.

Busch appears in the filmThe Unbearable Lightness of Being,playing the role of "Old Man" in the scene in which Sabina (Lena Olin) receives the letter informing her of Tómas and Tereza's deaths. Busch was 84 at the time of the filming.

Busch died fromcongestive heart failurein 1991 at the age of eighty-eight.

Novels

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  • The Carrington Incident(1941)
  • Duel in the Sun(1944)
  • They Dream of Home(1944)
  • Day of the Conquerors(1946)
  • The Furies(1948)
  • The Capture(1950)
  • The Hate Merchant(1953)
  • The Actor(1955)
  • California Street: A Novel(1959)
  • The San Franciscans(1962)
  • The Gentleman From California(1965) (fictionalized Richard Nixon)
  • The Takeover(1973)
  • No Place for a Hero(1980) (historical work about John C. Fremont in California)
  • Continent's Edge(1980)
  • The Titan Game(1989) (final novel)

Stories

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  • "College Coach" (1933)
  • "Cut Rate" (1934)
  • "We the O'Learys" (1936)
  • "Belle Star" (1941)
  • "Distant Drums" (1951)
  • "The Man from the Alamo" (1953)

Filmography

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As screenwriter unless otherwise noted.

Actor

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Research resources

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