Becky Gardiner (born Rebeckah McCormick McLean; April 24, 1886) was an American screenwriter and actress active in the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for writing screenplays that focused on women.[1]
Biography
Gardiner was born into a prominent Maryland family; her father, Donald McLean, was a lawyer, and his wife, Emily Nelson Ritchie, was related to Maryland Gov. Albert Ritchie.[2][3] On June 12, 1909,[4] she married writer John D.W. Gardiner; they had one daughter, Emily, who became an author as well.[5]
Gardiner got her start as an actress in New York City, performing in small roles in the early 1910s under the name Becky Bruce.[6][7][8] She turned her attention to writing in the 1920s, studying in Paris at the Sorbonne and writing a column called "Footlights and Studio Lamps" for The Evening Sun; she eventually went under contract at Famous Players–Lasky, where she was the only woman on the East Coast writing staff.[5][9] She also worked at Fox and Paramount.[6]
Films for which Gardiner wrote adaptations included Sea Horses (1926) and Padlocked (1926).[10] She also wrote the scenario for War Nurse (1930).[11]
