Frances Hyland (screenwriter)


Frances Hyland was an American screenwriter active between the late 1920s and the late 1940s. She was the first woman hired as a "gagman" at a film studio, and she wrote dozens of comedic scripts over the course of her career.

Biography

Hyland was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas on September 19, 1903, the daughter of William Carol Moore and Aura Lee Dickey. Her father was the editor of the local newspaper; he would later move to California and edit The Hueneme Harbor Bulletin.
In 1926, she became the first woman to be hired by Universal as a "gagman". She later worked for Tiffany Pictures. She continued to work steadily throughout the 1930s and 1940s, producing scripts for well-received films like The Sin of Nora Moran, A Shriek in the Night, and In Old California.
She was married to filmmaker Albert Ray until his death and had 2 sons. Her date of death and final resting place are unknown.

Selected filmography

Women's Wares The House of Scandal The Grain of Dust The Power of Silence Marriage by Contract Painted Faces The Voice Within Two Men and a Maid Morals for Women Deceit The Thirteenth Guest Guilty or Not Guilty Officer Thirteen The Intruder A Shriek in the Night The Sin of Nora Morgan A Woman's Man Money Means Nothing Helldorado Smart Girl Thunder in the Night My Marriage The Crime of Dr. Forbes Star for a Night Under Your Spell 45 Fathers City Girl Island in the Sky Keep Smiling Everybody's Baby Winner Take All Charlie Chan in Reno The Cisco Kid and the Lady Free, Blonde and 21 Girl from Avenue A You're Telling Me In Old California Someone to Remember The Cheaters Murder in the Music Hall