Cause of death Tuberculosis Nationality U.S. Children David Weaver | Name John Alstyne Books In American: Poems Role Poet | |
Occupation novelist, poet, screenwriter Movies The Crowd, The Saturday Night Kid, The Wild Party, Pointed Heels Similar People Peggy Wood, James Murray, Bert Roach, Eleanor Boardman, Harry Behn | ||
John Van Alstyne Weaver, Jr. (July 17, 1893 – June 14, 1938) was a poet, novelist and screenwriter whose poems attracted the approbation of H. L. Mencken, whose works were produced on stage and on film, and who had several screenwriting credits for work on properties where he was not the author of the original work.
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Background
Weaver was born 17 July 1893 in Charlotte, North Carolina, the son of John Van Alstyne Weaver, Sr. and Anne Randolph Tate Weaver. He married American actress Peggy Wood in 1924; the couple had one son. He died 15 June 1938 of tuberculosis in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (See Tuberculosis treatment in Colorado Springs).
Weaver was educated at Hamilton College, graduating in 1914. His literary career began with employment at the Chicago Daily News in 1919 as a book editor, and continued with employment at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He ceased newspaper work around in 1924 to pursue a purely literary career. He moved to work for Paramount in 1928.
Weaver attracted notice for his adaptation of American vernacular to iambic pentameter rhythms. His financial success came from successful adaptations of his work on stage and in films and, later, from screenwriting.