Joseph W. Farnham

{{short description|American screenwriter}} {{Infobox person | image = Joseph Farnham 001.jpg | image_size = | name = Joseph W. Farnham | birth_name = Joseph White Farnham | birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|12|2}} | birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1931|6|2|1884|12|2}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Screenwriter | years_active = 1918–1930 | spouse = | children = | burial_place = Forest Lawn Memorial Park }}

'''Joseph White Farnham''' (December 2, 1884 – June 2, 1931) was an American playwright, film writer, and film editor of the silent movie era in the 1920s. He was also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

== Biography ==

Born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1884, Farnham got his start in film through his business relationship with theatre impresarios Gustave and Daniel Frohman who owned The Frohman Amusement Corp. ''The Big Parade'' is probably the most famous of his works adapted to film. In the 1st Academy Awards of 1929, nominees could be considered for an Oscar for an award on the basis of multiple films within the year. Joseph won his Best Writing - Title Cards award for the films ''The Fair Co-Ed''; ''Laugh, Clown, Laugh''; and ''Telling the World''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1929 |title=The 1st Academy Awards (1929) Nominees and Winners |publisher=Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences |access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref> This was the only year that an Oscar for title cards would be awarded.

It was Joseph Farnham who was assigned by Irving Thalberg to reduce Erich Von Stroheim's ''Greed'' to the bowdlerized form we have today.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Koszarski |first1=Richard |title=Von: The Life and Films of Erich Von Stroheim |date=2001 |publisher=Limelight Editions |location=New York |isbn=0-87910-954-8 |page=165 |access-date=10 May 2026}}</ref>

In 1930, Farnham contributed dialogue to four MGM musicals: ''So This Is College'', ''Montana Moon''. ''Good News'' and ''Love in the Rough''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joseph Farnham |url=https://mgm-musicals.com/main-crew/writers/joseph-farnham/ |website=The Musicals of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |access-date=10 May 2026}}</ref>

Joseph Farnham was the very first Academy Award winner to die. He died in 1931 of a heart attack while living in Los Angeles and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

==Selected filmography== *''Alias Jimmy Valentine'' (1920) * ''Bachelor Apartments'' (1921) *''The Country Flapper'' (1922) *''The Snitching Hour'' (1922) *''Greed'' (1924) *''Reckless Romance'' (1924) *''Soul Mates'' (1925) *''The Big Parade'' (1925) *''Stop Flirting'' (1925) *''The Blackbird'' (1926) *''Beverly of Graustark'' (1926) *''The Road to Mandalay'' (1926) *''The Show'' (1927) *''The Red Mill'' (1927) *''Slide, Kelly, Slide'' (1927) *''Rookies'' (1927) *''Becky'' (1927) *''London After Midnight'' (1927) *''The Unknown'' (1927) *''The Trail of '98'' (1928) *''Laugh, Clown, Laugh'' (1928) *''The Cameraman'' (1928) *''The Duke Steps Out'' (1929) *''Where East Is East'' (1929) *''The Unholy Night'' (1929) *''The Thirteenth Chair'' (1929) *''The Big House'' (1930)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *{{IMDb name|id=0267868|name=Joseph Farnham}} * {{Find a Grave|11496}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnham, Joseph}} Category:1884 births Category:1931 deaths Category:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders Category:American male screenwriters Category:Writers from New Haven, Connecticut Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Screenwriters from Connecticut Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters