Robert Presnell, Jr.

Robert Presnell, Jr. (July 21, 1914 – June 14, 1986)[1] was an American writer and the husband of the actress Marsha Hunt. He was also an activist who participated in several humanitarian initiatives together with his wife. He became the director of radio shows such as I Love a Mystery and The Orson Welles Show.

Robert Presnell, Jr.
Born(1914-07-21)21 July 1914
Chicago, Illinois
DiedJune 14, 1986(1986-06-14) (aged 71)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationScreenwriter
Spouse(s)Kay Brown (divorced); Marsha Hunt (m. 1946; his death 1986)
Children2

Some of Presnell's notable films include Man in the Attic and Conspiracy of Hearts, which was nominated at the 18th Golden Globe Awards for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. Presnell also wrote several memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone.[2][3]

Early life and career

Presnell was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Robert Presnell, Sr. and his wife, Cecilia. Aside from being a producer, Presnell Sr. was also a screenwriter making his son a second-generation writer.

He started his writing career as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal.[1] After this stint, Presnell became a freelance writer of articles and short stories for magazines. He then moved to New York City in the late 1930s, where he established a career writing, directing, and producing radio programs.

Film and television

In the mid-1940s, Presnell relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he first started working on radio with Orson Welles and then as a writer of films and television dramas such as the I Love a Mystery series and Cuban Pete (1947).[4][5] He also co-wrote Hollywood Fights Back, the 1947 radio broadcast in which 60 famous actors and filmmakers spoke out against the Hollywood blacklist.[6][7] Hunt, in an interview, said that their involvement in this radio broadcast was held against them later on[8] and that despite the existence of a caveat that would have given them an out from being blacklisted, they refused to renounce their position.[9]

In the 1950s, he wrote the screenplays for the movies Man in the Attic (1953), A Life in the Balance (1955), Screaming Eagles (1956), The Rawhide Years (1956), and Under the Sahara Sun (1957).[10] He also wrote episodes for TV series such as The George Sanders Mystery Theater, Lux Video Theatre, Studio One, and The Twilight Zone.

Presnell was credited with the screenplay of the 1960 British film Conspiracy of Hearts, which was directed by Ralph Thomas. It starred Lilli Palmer, Sylvia Syms, Yvonne Mitchell, and Ronald Lewis, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. According to one source, however, Presnell served as a “front” for his fellow screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was unable to write films under his own name because he was included in the Hollywood blacklist.[11] It is not clear whether Trumbo did contribute to the script since this issue is further complicated by the fact that the film is based on the teleplay by Dale Pitt and that Presnell was announced as the screenwriter in August 1956 for $20,000.[11] The screenplay was completed in April 1957, the same year The Green-Eyed Blonde was released. This film was written by Trumbo and was credited to Sally Stubblefield, who served as his front.[12]

Presnell wrote his wife Marsha Hunt’s 1960 documentary A Call From (later renamed A Call from the Stars), which was about the international refugee crisis.[13] In the 1960s, he wrote the films Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960), 13 West Street (1962), and The Third Day (1965). In the 1970s, he wrote the scripts of the so-called TV Movies such as The Secret Night Caller (1975) and Smash-Up on Highway 5 (1976) as well as two episodes of the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man – Book II.

Presnell served on the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America/West as well as in its arbitration committee.[4] He was also able to complete a novel called Edgell’s Island, which was published by Dial Press in 1951.[1]

Activism

He strongly supported Amnesty International and the anti-nuclear organization SANE. In 1947, he and Hunt became members of the Committee for the First Amendment along with other Hollywood figures such as John Huston, William Wyler, Humphrey Bogart, and Lauren Bacall. The group was founded as a way of supporting the Hollywood Ten, a group of writers and directors who refused to tell the House Committee on Un-American Activities whether they were or had ever been Communist Party members.[14] In 1955, Presnell and Hunt also traveled overseas to support the United Nations' initiatives in Third World countries such as those addressing hunger and promoting world peace.[15][16]

Personal life

Presnell was first married to Kay Brown, with whom he had one child named Peter.[16] On February 10, 1946, he married the actress Marsha Hunt, to whom he remained married until his death. Presnell met Hunt at a birthday party for Orson Welles.[17] The Presnells also adopted Chon Kai Yin, an orphan from Hong Kong.[18]

He died on June 14, 1986, at the age of 71, at his home in Sherman Oaks, California after suffering heart ailments for many years.[1]

Credits
Film/Television Notes Production company
I Love a Mystery Director (1939-1944) NBC
The Orson Welles Show Director (1941-1942) CBS Radio
Hollywood Fights Back Writer (1947) n/a
Edgell's Island Writer (1951) Dial Press
Schlitz Playhouse TV Series "Apple of his Eye" (1952) Meridian Productions
Man in the Attic Screenplay (1953) Panoramic Productions, Leonard Goldstein
A Life in the Balance Screenplay (1955) Tele-Voz S.A., Panoramic Productions
Screaming Eagles Screenplay (1956) Bischoff-Diamond Corporation
The Rawhide Years Adaptation (1956) Universal International Pictures
The George Sanders Mystery Theater TV series "The People vs. Anne Tobin" (1957) Screen Gems
Lux Video Theater TV series "The softest Music" (1957) J. Walter Thompson Agency
Legend of the Lost Screenplay (1957) Batjac Productions, Dear Film Produzione
Studio One in Hollywood TV series "The Left-Handed Welcome" (1958)
    		CBS Television Network
    Wink of an Eye uncredited (1958)
      		Ivan Tors Productions
      Conspiracy of Hearts Screenplay (1960) The Rank Organisation
      The Twilight Zone TV series "The Chaser" (1960)
        		CBS Television Network
        First Person TV series "At the Railing" (1960) CBC
        Let No Man Write My Epitaph Screenplay (1960) Columbia Pictures Corporation
        13 West Street Screenplay (1962) Ladd Enterprises
        Follow the Sun TV series "A Ghost in Her Gazebo" (1962) 20th Century Fox Television
        The Eleventh Hour TV Series "A Full Moon Every Night" (1964) Arena Productions, MGM Television
        Mr. Novak TV series "The Tender Twigs" (1965) MGM Television
        The Third Day Screenplay (1965) Warner Bros.
        The Virginian TV series "The Crooked Path" (1968) NBC, Reveu Studios, Universal Television
        Ritual of Evil TV Movie (1970) Universal Pictures, Universal Television
        Bracken's World TV series
        • "Don't You Cry for Susannah" (1969)
        • "Preview in Samarkand" (1970)
        		 20th Century Fox Television
        McCloud TV series "Somebody's Out to Get Jennie" (1971) Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal Television
        Banacek TV series "No Sign of the Cross" (1972) Universal Television
        All My Darling Daughters TV Movie (1972) Groverton Productions, Universal Television
        Norman Corwin Presents TV series "A Matter of Life and Death" (1972) Group W Productions, Arjo Productions, CBC
        The Secret Night Caller TV Movie (1975) Charles Fries Productions, Penthouse Video
        Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II TV series
        • "Chapter III" (1976)
        • "Chapter VII" (1976)
        		 Universal Television
        Smash-Up on Interstate 5 TV Movie (1976) Filmways Television
        King's Crossing TV series "One Afternoon" (1982) Lorimar Productions
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        References
        1. "Screenwriter Robert Presnell Jr. Dies at Age 71". Los Angeles Times. 1986-06-17. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
        2. Desk, BWW News. "MARSHA HUNT'S SWEET ADVERSITY to Hold Premiere and Benefit". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
        3. "Conspiracy of Hearts". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
        4. "Robert Presnell, Jr. Biography". Fandango. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
        5. Presnell, Don; McGee, Marty (2008). A Critical History of Television's The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 64. ISBN 9780786438860.
        6. Goldsmith, Melissa; Willson, Paige; Fonseca, Anthony (2016). The Encyclopedia of Musicians and Bands on Film. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 87. ISBN 9781442269866.
        7. Nichols, Chris (2015-11-03). ""Hollywood Became a Really Cowardly Place"". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
        8. LePire, Bobby (2018-07-23). "Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity". Film Threat. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
        9. Nichols, Chris (2015-11-03). ""Hollywood Became a Really Cowardly Place"". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
        10. "Robert Presnell Jr. | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
        11. Dick, Bernard F. (2009). Radical Innocence: A Critical Study of the Hollywood Ten. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. p. 202. ISBN 9780813147710.
        12. Hanson, Peter (2001). Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel: A Critical Survey and Filmography. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 127. ISBN 9780786432462.
        13. Hunt, Marsha; Communist, on being called a. "Actress Marsha Hunt, 100, Has Matters Of Principle". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
        14. Gaspar, Lesley. "Marsha Hunt: Living Well Is the Best Revenge | Second Sight Cinema |". Retrieved 2019-02-20.
        15. Rathgeb, Douglas L. (2015). The Making of Rebel Without a Cause. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 225. ISBN 9780786461158.
        16. "Celebrating Seniors – Marsha Hunt is 99". 50+ World. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
        17. "Marsha Hunt: American girl, Un-American woman… and upstanding centenarian | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
        18. Hunt, Marsha. "Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1917)". Classic Images. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
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