{{short description|American film director and producer (1898–1930)}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Kenneth Hawks | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Kenneth Neil Hawks | birth_date = {{birth date|1898|08|12}} | birth_place = Goshen, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1930|01|02|1898|08|12}} | death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | years_active = 1926–1930 | occupation = Film director | spouse = {{marriage|Mary Astor|1928}} | relatives = {{Plainlist| * Howard Hawks (brother) * William Hawks (brother) * Bessie Love (sister-in-law) * Athole Shearer (sister-in-law)<ref>{{cite book|last=Kidd|first=Charles|title=Debrett Goes to Hollywood|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-312-00588-7|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/debrettgoestohol00kidd/page/67|chapter=Howard Hawks and Mary Astor|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/debrettgoestohol00kidd|page=[https://archive.org/details/debrettgoestohol00kidd/page/67 67]}}</ref>}} }}
'''Kenneth Neil Hawks''' (August 12, 1898 – January 2, 1930) was an American film director and producer.
==Life and career== Hawks served in the United States Army Air Service during World War I. He then graduated from Yale University in 1919. He soon moved to Hollywood, California with brother Howard Hawks; He became a writer, editor and supervisor at Fox Films Corporation in 1926. He began directing films for Fox in 1929. He was supervising producer of the Fox documentary film ''True Heaven'' (1929). On January 2, 1930, while directing filming of aerial scenes for the film ''Such Men Are Dangerous'', he was killed in a mid-air plane crash over the Pacific Ocean along with 9 others: pilot Walter Ross Cook, cameraman George Eastman, assistant director Ben Frankel, assistant director Max Gold, Tom Harris, Harry Johannes, Otho Jordan, pilot Halleck Rouse, and cinematographer Conrad Wells (also known as Abraham Fried). The planes that crashed into each other were identical Stinson SM-1F Detroiters; sun glare was listed as probable cause.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2005 |title=A tragedy of the first order |url=http://dmairfield.com/airplanes/8420/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124215917/http://dmairfield.com/airplanes/8420/index.htm |archive-date=24 November 2010 |access-date=23 February 2026 |website=Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register}}</ref>
His body was recovered and after cremation his ashes were scattered over the site of his death.
== Family == He was the brother of director Howard Hawks and producer William Hawks.
Kenneth met actress Mary Astor in 1927; the couple married on February 26, 1928, at her home, Moorcrest. Kenneth gave Astor a new Packard as a wedding gift. They soon moved to a home on Lookout Mountain in Los Angeles, California.
== Filmography as director == * ''Masked Emotions'' (1929) * ''Big Time'' (1929) * ''Such Men Are Dangerous'' (1930)
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|370275|Kenneth Hawks}} * [https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/parker-v-james-granger-inc-24868 Parker v. Granger case details plane crash that killed Kenneth Hawks] * [http://mlsandy.home.tsixroads.com/Corinth_MLSANDY/rt066.html an account of the plane crash that killed Kenneth Hawks et al] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051110010808/http://mlsandy.home.tsixroads.com/Corinth_MLSANDY/rt066.html |date=November 10, 2005 }} * [https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume55152newy/filmdailyvolume55152newy_djvu.txt Kenneth Hawks] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20101124215917/http://dmairfield.com/airplanes/8420/index.htm Davis Monthan Aviation Field Register]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawks, Kenneth}} Category:1898 births Category:1930 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Film directors from Indiana Category:People from Goshen, Indiana Category:United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1930 Category:Victims of mid-air collisions Category:Yale University alumni