# Elizabeth Meehan > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elizabeth_Meehan > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elizabeth_Meehan.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Meehan > Source revision: 1354928796 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British screenwriter (1894–1967)}} {{for|the professor of politics|Elizabeth Meehan (academic)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox person | image = ElizabethMeehan1928.jpg | image_size = | caption = Elizabeth Meehan, from a 1928 publication. | name = Elizabeth Meehan | birth_date = 22 August 1894 | birth_place = [Isle of Wight](/source/Isle_of_Wight), [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) | death_date = {{death date and age|24 April 1967|22 August 1894}} | death_place = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), [United States](/source/United_States) | other_names = Betty Meehan, Betty Williams, Elizabeth Meehan Williams | occupation = [Screenwriter](/source/Screenwriter) | years_active = }} '''Elizabeth Meehan''' (22 August 1894 – 24 April 1967) was a British [screenwriter](/source/screenwriter) who worked in both Britain and [Hollywood](/source/Cinema_of_the_United_States). == Early life == Meehan was born on the [Isle of Wight](/source/Isle_of_Wight), and lived in [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania](/source/Philadelphia).{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14180528/elizabeth_meehan_scenario_writer/|title=Letters to 'Ye Ed'|date=October 6, 1935|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=58|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14180500/elizabeth_meehan_aka_betty_williams/|title=Another Chorus Girl Makes Good|last=Jordan|first=Anne|date=January 8, 1929|work=The Daily News|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}} == Career == As a young woman, Betty Meehan was a model, a professional swimmer, and a chorus girl with the [Ziegfeld Follies](/source/Ziegfeld_Follies), in the same sextet of dancers as [Billie Dove](/source/Billie_Dove) and [Alta King](/source/Alta_King). "Oh yes, I know that chorines have the reputation of being beautiful but dumb," she explained in a 1928 interview, "And, perhaps, some of them are. But you'd be surprised at the girls you'll find in the choruses."{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-dec-14-1928-1325324/|title=Extra-Girl Writes Way to Fame|last=Cohn|first=Gene|date=December 14, 1928|work=Bismarck Tribune|access-date=August 23, 2019|page=29|via=NewspaperArchive}} Meehan credited [James M. Barrie](/source/J._M._Barrie) with helping her transition into screenwriting.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35227988/elizabeth_meehan_1937/|title=From Chorus Girl to Script Writer|date=January 14, 1937|work=Star-Phoenix|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=8|via=Newspapers.com}} During the late 1930s Meehan was employed by the studio head [Walter C. Mycroft](/source/Walter_C._Mycroft) to work for [British International Pictures](/source/British_International_Pictures).Harper, Sue. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lIyvAwAAQBAJ&q=Meehan Women in British Cinema: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know]''. Continuum International, 2000. p. 184. Meehan frequently collaborated with the Irish director [Herbert Brenon](/source/Herbert_Brenon). Later in her career, Meehan worked in television, writing episodes of ''[Lux Video Theatre](/source/Lux_Video_Theatre), [Fireside Theatre](/source/Fireside_Theatre)'', and ''Mama''. == Personal life == Meehan had a daughter, Frances Meehan Williams (1930-2006),{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14182966/frances_meehan_williams_birthday_party/|title=Storybook Folk at Party|date=July 21, 1935|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=51|via=Newspapers.com}} who became an actress and later a psychotherapist.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35227651/elizabeth_meehan_1951/|title=Starlets, Screenwriter Here For Movie Observance|date=October 9, 1951|work=LNP Always Lancaster|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=24|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14184583/obituary_frances_meehan/|title=Frances Meehan|date=September 1, 2006|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=140|via=Newspapers.com}} Elizabeth Meehan died in 1967, in New York, aged 72 years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14179598/obituary_elizabeth_meehan/|title=Elizabeth Meehan|date=April 27, 1967|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=August 24, 2019|page=27|via=Newspapers.com}} Her daughter donated some of her original scripts and screenplays to the Special Collections library at [UCLA](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles).{{Cite web|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf3p3005bk/dsc/|title=Finding Aid for the Elizabeth Meehan Papers, 1930-1955|website=UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections|access-date=2019-08-24}} ==Selected filmography== * ''[The Great Gatsby](/source/The_Great_Gatsby_(1926_film))'' (1926) *''[God Gave Me Twenty Cents](/source/God_Gave_Me_Twenty_Cents)'' (1926) * ''[Sorrell and Son](/source/Sorrell_and_Son_(1927_film))'' (1927) * ''[The Telephone Girl](/source/The_Telephone_Girl_(1927_film))'' (1927) * ''[Laugh, Clown, Laugh](/source/Laugh%2C_Clown%2C_Laugh)'' (1928) * ''[The Rescue](/source/The_Rescue_(1929_film))'' (1929) * ''[The Case of Sergeant Grischa](/source/The_Case_of_Sergeant_Grischa_(film))'' (1930) * ''[Lummox](/source/Lummox_(film))'' (1930) * ''[Beau Ideal](/source/Beau_Ideal)'' (1931) * ''[Oliver Twist](/source/Oliver_Twist_(1933_film))'' (1933) * ''[West of Singapore](/source/West_of_Singapore)'' (1933) * ''[Harmony Lane](/source/Harmony_Lane)'' (1935) * ''[Spring Handicap](/source/Spring_Handicap)'' (1937) * ''[Over She Goes](/source/Over_She_Goes)'' (1938) * ''[Star of the Circus](/source/Star_of_the_Circus)'' (1938) * ''[Housemaster](/source/Housemaster_(film))'' (1938) * ''[A Gentleman's Gentleman](/source/A_Gentleman's_Gentleman)'' (1939) * ''[Parachute Nurse](/source/Parachute_Nurse)'' (1942) * ''[Storm Over Lisbon](/source/Storm_Over_Lisbon)'' (1944) * ''[Northwest Outpost](/source/Northwest_Outpost)'' (1947) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Bibliography== * Harper, Sue. ''Women in British Cinema: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know''. Continuum International, 2000. * Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. ==External links== *{{IMDb name|0576035}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Meehan, Elizabeth}} Category:1894 births Category:1967 deaths Category:Ziegfeld girls Category:20th-century British screenwriters Category:British emigrants to the United States --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elizabeth Meehan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Meehan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Meehan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.