Author and screenwriter, often preoccupied with American history as viewed from a Southern perspective, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He studied writing at Columbia University and was the first person to graduate from the University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism. In 1923, he became the youngest editor employed by a newspaper owned by the Hearst Press, The Georgian.
From 1925, he worked in New York for the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, before moving to Hollywood in 1932. He spent virtually his entire career at 20th Century Fox as a writer and producer, from 1933 until his untimely death in 1952.
He wrote screenplays for a wide range of genres, including war films, westerns, comedies, and biopics, with the majority of these being critical and box office hits. Recurring motifs in his work are life in a romanticized Deep South, the Civil War, pioneering history, and rustic, small town Americana.
Invariably, his screenplays have benefited from a profound knowledge of American history and politics and his keen eye for characterization. His peers in the industry regarded him as a man of considerable integrity, described as quiet, self-effacing, and possessed of strong moral convictions.
His contributions were recognized thirty-one years after his death with a prestigious Screen Laurel Award from the Writer's Guild of America.
