Allen Leffingwell Vincent (August 28, 1903 – November 30, 1979)[1] was an American actor and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter.[2] He started as a stage actor in New York City before moving to acting in motion pictures in the late 1920s, then transitioning to screenwriting in the early 1940s. His last credit is as a co-screenwriter for the 1952 film The Girl in White, which starred June Allyson and Arthur Kennedy.[2]
Early years
Vincent was born in Spokane, Washington, the youngest of the two children of William David and Mary Eva (née Allen) Vincent.[3][4][5] His father served as the president and vice chair of Spokane's Old National Bank and Union Trust Company [6] and following the death of his first wife married Neen Hawley McVey in 1910.[7][8] Vincent was raised in the Episcopal church, being baptized on November 1, 1903, and confirmed on March 17, 1918, in Spokane's former All Saints Episcopal Cathedral.[9] From 1920 to 1923 Vincent was a student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.[10]
Career
After leaving Dartmouth, Vincent started his career as a stage actor, with his first role in Vanity Fair with Doris Keane in New York City in 1921,[11] followed by serving as an understudy to Noël Coward in The Vortex.[12] His first credited film role came in 1929's Mother's Boy starring Morton Downey.[2] He would appear in more than 25 films in the next decade, with his most notable role in 1933's Mystery of the Wax Museum, where he played lead actress Fay Wray's love interest.[2] His last known acting appearance happened in 1939 in the noir film Missing Daughters.[2]
Due to the development of a hearing impairment,[12] starting in 1941, he transitioned to screenwriting and editing, his first credit being for The Face Behind the Mask, a noir crime film starring Peter Lorre about a fire-scarred watchmaker who turns to a life of crime to survive.[2] The film initially had poor reviews,[13] but since that time has received increasing praise from more contemporary critics like Leonard Maltin[14] and Dennis Schwartz.[15] His greatest success as screenwriter came with Johnny Belinda, the 1948 film starring Jane Wyman.[16] The screenplay he wrote with Irma von Cube was nominated for a 1949 Academy Award, but lost to John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.[17]
^1910 United States Federal Census: Census Place: Spokane Ward 4, Spokane, Washington; Roll: T624_1671; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0185; FHL microfilm: 1375684
^National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Roll #: 2286; Volume #: Roll 2286 - Certificates: 330350-300849, 31 May 1923-01 Jun 1923
^Washington, Spokane County, Probate Records; Author: Washington. Superior Court (Spokane County); Probate Place: Spokane, Washington
^"Allen Vincent," Spokane Chronicle, December 4, 1979: 10
^“Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871–1920.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Illinois Department of Public Health records. "Marriage Records, 1871–present." Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois
^ abState of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics
^Episcopal Diocese of Spokane; Spokane, Washington; The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane Church Records, 1870-1947; Volume Number: 1
^"U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Dartmouth College; Year: 1925
^"Screenwriter Allen Vincent Dies At Age 76," Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 3, 1979: 26
^ ab"Allen Vincent, Screen Writer, Visits Spokane," The Spokesman-Review, September 11, 1949: 66
^T.M.P. (February 7, 1941). "At the Rialto". Associated Press. The New York Times
^Maltin, Leonard; Green, Spencer; Edelman, Rob (January 2010). Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide
^Schwartz, Dennis (February 4, 2008). "FACE BEHIND THE MASK, THE". DennisSchwartzReviews.com. Dennis Schwartz Reviews.
