Jay Presson Allen was a renowned screenwriter, born Jacqueline Presson on March 3, 1922, in San Angelo, Texas, to a department store manager. She received no formal education, but instead pursued an acting career in New York City at the age of 18.
However, her acting endeavors soon lost their charm, and she married in the early 1940s, moving to southern California. Disenchanted with acting, she turned to writing as a means of financial independence and a way to escape her unhappy marriage.
Her first novel, "Spring Riot," was published in 1948, and she later divorced her husband and remarried to Lewis Allen, a reader at the office of Broadway producer Bob Whitehead. Allen initially rejected a play she had sent Whitehead, but eventually, she found success as a television writer, including work on the Philco Playhouse.
Jay Presson Allen wrote another play, "The First Wife," which was adapted into the 1963 film "Wives and Lovers." She optioned Muriel Spark's novel "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and wrote a dramatization, which brought her to the attention of Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock engaged her to adapt Winston Graham's novel "Marnie," under whose tutelage she developed her screenwriting skills.
"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" was a success, both on Broadway and the silver screen, earning Maggie Smith her first Oscar. Allen's subsequent success on Broadway included her play "40 Carats," which was adapted from a French comedy and starred Julie Harris, who won a Tony Award for her performance.
Jay Presson Allen wrote the screenplay for George Cukor's 1972 film adaptation of Graham Greene's "Travels with My Aunt," which initially starred Katharine Hepburn but was replaced by Maggie Smith. She also adapted the Broadway hit "Cabaret" for director Bob Fosse, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
Other notable projects include "Funny Lady," the 1975 sequel to "Funny Girl," and the TV series "Family." She collaborated with Sidney Lumet on several projects, including the adaptation of her own novel "Just Tell Me What You Want" and the Oscar-nominated screenplay "Prince of the City."
Jay Presson Allen's last screenplay was a remake of "Lord of the Flies," but she disliked the 1990 film and had her name removed from it. She passed away on May 1, 2006, at the age of 84, leaving behind a legacy as a talented and versatile screenwriter.
