John Meehan, a renowned Canadian-American screenwriter and playwright, was born on May 8, 1884, in Lindsay, Ontario. Initially, he dreamed of becoming a chef, but after studying culinary arts in Austria, he moved to New York to pursue a career in the theater.
Meehan made his Broadway debut in 1902 as an actor in a play inspired by Richard Harding Davis's story, "Soldiers of Fortune." He appeared on Broadway three more times as an actor between 1903 and 1908. His name was next associated with The Great White Way as a playwright, when his play "The Very Minute" was produced in 1917, starring Cathleen Nesbitt.
The show closed after 32 performances. He acted again on Broadway in John Drinkwater's 1919 hit play "Abraham Lincoln." During the Roaring Twenties, five of his original comedies were staged. He also sporadically acted during the Jazz Age, but more frequently, he produced and directed other dramatists' works.
When moving pictures began to talk, Meehan heeded Horace Greeley's advice "Go West, Young Man" and headed to Hollywood. He returned to the Broadway theater for his swansong as an actor in 1935's "A Journey By Night." His son, John Meehan Jr., wrote the books for the operettas "Rosalinda" and "Helen Goes to Troy."
Meehan was hired as a contract writer by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the time Paramount was adapting his play "The Lady Lies" (1929) for the big screen, featuring Walter Huston and a young Claudette Colbert as the leads. The play had not been a success in 1928, closing after just 24 performances, but Hollywood needed writers who could write dialogue.
Meehan's 1927 play "Bless You, Sister" (which also lasted only 24 performances on Broadway) was adapted by Jo Swerling as "The Miracle Woman" (1931) for Frank Capra at Columbia, providing a choice role for Barbara Stanwyck, playing an Aimee Semple McPherson-like woman preacher.
Meehan won his first Oscar nomination soon after coming to Hollywood in 1930 for "The Divorcee" (1930). He won his second Oscar nod along with co-writer Dore Schary in 1939 for "Boy's Town." M.G.M. superstars Norma Shearer in "The Divorcee" and Spencer Tracy in "Boy's Town" won Oscars for their work in Meehan screenplays.
John Meehan died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles on November 12, 1954, at the age of 70.
