Loos, Anita, 1893-1981

Anita Loos, screenwriter and novelist, was born on April 26, 1893, in Sisson, CA, the daughter of R. Beers and Minnie Ellen Loos. Miss Loos wrote the subtitles for D. W. Griffith's film, Intolerance, in 1916. Her best known work is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She died on August 18, 1981, at the age of 93.

American author and screenwriter.

American author.

Writer; interviewee married John Emerson.

Screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and child actress Corinne Anita Loos was born in Sissons (now Mount Shasta), California on April 26, 1893. In 1912, she began her career as a screenwriter at D.W. Griffith’s Biograph Company, where she wrote over 100 scenarios. She married and divorced her first husband, Frank Pallma, Jr. in 1915 and was remarried to director, producer and writer John Emerson in 1920 until his death in 1956. Between 1916 and 1917, Loos formed a unit within the Biograph Company, with Emerson and actor Douglas Fairbanks, collaborating on ten films. She continued to collaborate with Emerson as a co-writer from 1916 to 1934 and as a co-producer beginning in 1919. Between 1916 and 1925, Loos worked extensively with silent film stars Norma and Constance “Dutch” Talmadge, and became close friends with their family, including their sister, Natalie Talmadge (wife of Buster Keaton), and their mother, Margaret “Peg” Talmadge. In 1919, Loos left the Griffith studio to go to New York with Emerson and work for the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation . It was during this time that she wrote the bestselling novel, Gentlemen prefer blondes: the illuminating diary of a professional lady (1925). Loos returned to Hollywood in 1932 to work as a screenwriter for MGM, before returning to New York in 1943 to write and adapt scripts for the stage. In 1949, she adapted Gentlemen prefer blondes: the illuminating diary of a professional lady with playwright Joseph Fields, and it was later popularized in the film version of the stage musical starring Marilyn Monroe (1953). Loos died in New York City on August 18, 1981.

Anita Loos, American novelist and screenwriter.

Michael Rosenauer, architect.

Anita Loos, American novelist and screenwriter.

Michael Rosenauer, architect.

Anita Loos, screenwriter and novelist, was born on April 26, 1893, in Sisson, CA, the daughter of R. Beers and Minnie Ellen Loos.

Miss Loos wrote the subtitles for D. W. Griffith's film, Intolerance, in 1916. Her best known work is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She died on August 18, 1981, at the age of 93.