Felix Jackson

Felix Jackson (born Felix Joachimson; June 5, 1902 – December 7, 1992) was a German-born American screenwriter and film producer.

Felix Jackson
Felix Jackson by Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez for Re:Form School
Born
Felix Joachimson

(1902-06-05)June 5, 1902
Hamburg, German Empire
DiedDecember 7, 1992(1992-12-07) (aged 90)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesFelix Joachimson
OccupationScreenwriter, film producer
Spouse(s)Ellen Levy (19? – 192?) divorced one son Ralph Jackson (formerly Joachimson); Licci Balla (?–1940; divorced)
Jill Jackson (1940–44; divorced; 2 children)
Deanna Durbin (1945–49; divorced; 1 child)
Ilka (?–1992; his death) one son

Biography

Jackson was born in Hamburg. He was a city editor in Germany at 21, then a dramatic and music critic, and helped manage three theaters in Berlin. He joined Joe Pasternak as a producer in Budapest in 1933.[1] He began working in the German film industry, before relocating after the rise of the Nazi party. He moved to Austria and Hungary in the mid-1930s where he frequently collaborated with the director Henry Koster. His screenplay for the 1935 film Little Mother served as the basis for a Hollywood remake Bachelor Mother (1939) which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Jackson moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s, writing the screenplay for Destry Rides Again (1939) a western starring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.[2] Naturalised U.S. citizen december 13, 1940, he was active in the European Film Fund, which provided support to European emigre filmmakers. He produced several Deanna Durbin films for Universal Pictures and they married in 1945.

In November 1946 he asked for and received his release from Universal.[3]

In January 1947 Durbin earned $310,728 for the previous year and Jackson earned $114,875.[4] In January 1948 their lawyer announced the couple had come to "a friendly parting of the ways".[5] In September 1949 she filed for divorce.[6] It was revealed that she and Jackson only lived together for 19 months (they married in June 1945 and she claimed he left her to go live in New York in January 1947). Jackson had been divorced in 1944, 1942 and in Europe.[7][8]

He joined the advertising agency Young and Rubicam in 1946, heading up its dramatic-television department. He served as executive producer of Pulitzer Prize Playhouse which aired on the ABC television network.[9]

In his fifties, Felix Jackson published a few novels.[10]

Selected filmography

Screenwriter

Producer

Novels
  • So Help Me God (1955)
  • Maestro (1957).
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References
  1. The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, December 7, 1952
  2. Bach p.246
  3. ARGOSY PLANNING 2 'FUGITIVE' FILMS New York Times 9 Nov 1946: 24.
  4. ABBOTT, COSTELLO TOP INCOME LIST Los Angeles Times 8 Jan 1947: 2
  5. Breakdown Silences KFI Los Angeles Times 6 Jan 1948: A1.
  6. Seeks Divorce Chicago Daily Tribune 27 Sep 1949: 18.
  7. Singer Deanna Durbin Files Divorce Action: Film Actress Asks Daughter's Custody; Charges Mental Cruelty and Desertion Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times 27 Sep 1949: A1.
  8. DIVORCE GRANTED TO DEANNA DURBIN: Singing Actress Says Director Husband, Felix Jackson, Left Her and Hollywood Los Angeles Times 28 Oct 1949: 2.
  9. The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, December 7, 1952
  10. Felix Jackson Is Dead; Film Producer Was 90, in: The New York Times, December 16, 1992

Bibliography
  • Bach, Stephen. Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend. University of Minnesota Press, 2011.
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