Friday Fun Facts: From The Front Page to Tara

Ben Hecht, who was born on this day in 1894, began his writing career working for newspapers in Chicago. He wrote news stories and later wrote a regular column. His first book, A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago, was a compilation of many of his columns. It was published in 1922. But, he couldn’t make a living there so he headed out to Hollywood to write screenplays. He won an Oscar for the 1927 film Underworld. He also collaborated on the screenplay for one of the most well-known films – Gone With the Wind. In 1928, he wrote the popular play The Front Page with Charles MacArthur. He used his adventures working on newspapers as the inspiration for the play. It, too, became a film. He continued his career writing other screenplays and plays, often with Charles MacArthur. He died in 1964.