Anita Loos, born in 1888 in California, is a well-known author, screenplay writer and playwright. She started off as an actor and has acted in many plays. But she always wanted to become a scriptwriter.
She then started writing scripts for movies made in Hollywood. She had bagged the offer of writing for films produced by MGM. After having written the scripts of many films for other production houses, she went on to write articles for various magazines, memoirs and novels.
Anita Loos had nurtured the dream of becoming a writer from an early age. After her graduation, she wrote articles on New York and her friend would publish them in San Diego. At the same time she had written a play called The Ink Well, which received rave reviews. Her breakthrough screenplay was for a play called The New York Hat that was bought by Biograph Company. She had written another 150 scripts, which were produced by Lubin and Biograph. She is also credited with the script of 200 plays.
Anita Loos’ career in Hollywood started as she was employed as staff writer in Triangle Film Corporation. She got married to Emerson and together they had written two novels Breaking Into the Movies (1919) and How to Write Photoplays (1921). After scripting many movies with her husband, she filed for divorce. Subsequently she got married to John Ashmore Creeland, an assistant director. During this time she had written Tuesday Widows.
One of her well-known books was Gentleman Prefer Blondes. She had based the characters on her friends like H. L. Menken. This was initially published as a short series in Harper’s Bazaar. She published the book in 1925 being inspired by the response of the readers. This book not only went on to become a bestseller, but it was translated in 14 different languages. She had published, in 1927, a sequel to this book named But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was made into a movie in the following year. She returned to writing scripts with Red-Headed Woman. The success of the movie made Anita Loos a star overnight.
She was a regular at the parties organized by Selznicks, Goldwyns and Thalbergs. She attended the Sunday Brunches by George Cukor. Anita Loos was a part of Ruth Hale’s Lucy Stone League that advocated the use of maiden surnames by married women. She was nominated for Best Original Screenplay in the writer’s Guild for her work on San Francisco. She has been credited for writing the scripts for Broadway acts like The Fall Of Eve, Lorelei, The King’s mare, Gigi, Happy Birthday and the Whole Town Talking. She died at the age of 93.
Anita Loos
