Prominent screenwriter John Michael Hayes passed away on November 19, 2008, in New Hampshire at the age of 89. He was best known for his collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock on the films Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, and The Man Who Knew Too Much, but his other screen credits include Peyton Place, Butterfield 8, and many others.
In 1955, Hayes received an Academy Award nomination for Rear Window, which he had adapted from the short story by Cornell Woolrich. He was nominated a second time in 1958 for his adaptation of the novel Peyton Place by Grace Metalious.
John MIchael Hayes, like many other screenwriters, began his career as a scriptwriter in radio. His work was presented on a number of popular programs including Suspense, Inner Sanctum, My Favorite Husband, and others.
In all, Hayes is credited as a writer on ten episodes of Suspense and most fans of the show have probably heard an episode written or co-written by him. Those episodes include: "Very Much Like a Nightmare," True Report," "Lady in Distress," "The Wages of Sin," Vamp Till Dead," The Well-Dressed Corpse," "The Windy City Six," The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan," "Early to Death," and "Death on my Hands."
Hayes also co-wrote the script of the Escape episode "Two if By Sea," which was adapted from the novel Came the Dawn.
For more information about the life of John Michael Hayes, and his association with Hitchcock, click here to read his obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle (11/28/08).
Click below to watch the trailer for Rear Window.
(Image from Wikimedia Commons)
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