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Dalton Trumbo Biography
Author, Anti-War Activist, Screenwriter, Journalist,
Director (1905–1976)
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QUICK FACTS
NAME
Dalton ru!"o
OCCUPATION
Author , Anti-War Activist,Screenwriter ,
Journalist, Director
BIT! DATEDece!"er 9, 1905
DEAT! DATE
Se#te!"er 10, 1976
EDUCATION
$niversit% o& 'olorao
P"ACE OF BIT!
ontrose, 'olorao
P"ACE OF DEAT!*os An+eles, 'ali&ornia
AKA
o"ert ich
Dalton ru!"o
FU"" NAME
Ja!es Dalton ru!"o
Dalton ru!"o was an awar-winnin+ author an screenwriter who was
"lacliste
&ro! the &il! inustr% &ro! 19.7 until the earl% /60s
ue to his 'o!!unist ties
QUOTES
he chie& internal ene!ies o& an% state are those #u"lic
o&&icials who "etra% the trust
i!#ose u#on the! "% the #eo#le2
3Dalton ru!"o
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Synop#i#
Famed author and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was born on December
9, 1905, inMontrose, Colorado. After embarkin on a successful
career with !arner "ros., in 19#$
Trumbo %oined nine colleaues in refusin to testif& before
Conress reardin their
Communist ties. The so'called ()oll&wood Ten( were
blacklisted from that time until theearl& 19*0s. Trumbo died of
a heart attack on +etember 10, 19$*, in -os Aneles,
California.
!$a%ing &$#t
ames Dalton Trumbo was born in Montrose, Colorado, on December
9, 1905, the first son
of shoe'store clerk /rus and his wife, Maud. !hen Trumbo was
&ears old, his famil&moed to nearb& 2rand unction,
where he would send his &outh. !hile attendin hihschool there,
he induled an earl& interest in writin b& workin as a cub
reorter for a
local aer.
Trumbo continued his %ournalistic ursuits while attendin the
3niersit& of Colorado
before leain the state in 1945 to %oin his famil&, who
had moed to -os Aneles after he
raduated hih school. !hen his father died the followin &ear,
Trumbo took a %ob in a
baker& to hel suort his mother and &ouner sisters.
)e worked there for nearl& 10 &earswhile crankin out
countless short stories and noelsnone of which he could find a
ublisher forattendin the 3niersit& of California and
workin seeral other odd %obs.
A Pri'$% &rit$r
6n the earl& 190s, Trumbo bean to write rofessionall&,
ublishin articles and stories in
maa7ines such as the Saturday Evening Post , Vanity
Fair and the Hollywood Spectator . )e
became the manain editor of the Spectator in
19#, a &ear that also saw him ublish hisfirst
noel, Eclipse, as well as land a %ob as a scrit reader in the
!arner "ros. stor&
deartment. Then in 195 Trumbo sined a contract with the studio
as a %unior writer,
launchin what would roe to be a lonand comlicatedcareer.
6n 19* Trumbo receied his first screenwritin credit,
secificall& for the crime
drama Road Gang , and oer the course of the ne8t 10
&ears became one of the most
successful and souht after writers in )oll&wood. +ome
hihlihts amon his man& creditsare A Man to
Remember 19:;, the 19#0 romantic drama Kitty Foyle
which
starred 2iner
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Durin this time, Trumbo was findin success awa& from the
studio as well. 6n 199 he
married Cleo Fincher, with whom he would hae three children, and
in +etember of that&ear he achieed his eak as a noelist with
the antiwar stor& $o!nny Got His Gun. The
noel receied a =ational "ook Award and has been adated numerous
times for radio,
stae and screen.
Bla()li#t$%
Althouh the success of $o!nny Got His Gun earned
Trumbo notoriet& as an author, the
work eentuall& arnered him a fair share of unwanted
attention as well. -ike man&intellectuals and artists at the
time, Trumbo was a member of the Communist >art& and
durin his career had fre?uentl& taken unoular left'leanin
olitical ositions. "ut when
he receied fan letters from =a7i s&mathi7ers who had
misunderstood his intentions
with $o!nny Got His Gun, Trumbo reorted them to the
F"6.
