THE WRITER: Anthony Veiller

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Anthony Veiller was born on June 23, 1903 in New York City, to screenwriter Bayard Veiller and actor Margaret Wycherly (The Yearling).

He moved to Hollywood, initially under contract at RKO. During World War II, worked with Frank Capra as writer of the Why We Fight series for the Office of War Information.

Anthony Veiller was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. In 1937, he penned the line, “…the calla lilies are in bloom again” in his screenplay for Stage Door, starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Lucille Ball. This very loose adaptation of the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

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He was also Oscar-nominated for writing The Killers (1946), an adaptation of the short story by Ernest Hemingway. This seminal example of film noir, which introduced Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner to filmgoers, won an Edgar Award as best mystery film of 1946, and in 2008 was enshrined in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

He died on June 27, 1965 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.