Hawkins, Ward, 1912-1990

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1912-12-29

Death 1990-12-22

Nationality: Americans,

Language: English,

Biographical notes:

John Hawkins was born in Hamilton, Montana in 1910. He lived in Oregon City and Gladstone before moving to Portland in 1939. Hawkins began writing stories for such "pulp" magazines as Popular Detective and Ace G-Man Stories in 1933. He and his brother Ward Hawkins (b. 1912, Vancouver, B.C.) then made the move from the “pulp” to more respectable "slick" magazines. These included The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, and Cosmopolitan . When these magazines lost circulation and began folding in the late 1950's, the Hawkins brothers decided to try their hand at television and screen writing. They moved to Los Angeles in 1938.

The two, separately and as a team, wrote scripts mainly for westerns and police dramas, such as "Boots and Saddles," "Manhunt," and "The Virginian." However, they wrote for a wide variety of shows, including "Alcoa Premiere," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and "General Electric Theatre." John Hawkins was especially successful, becoming assistant producer and story editor for "Bonanza" and finally producer of "Little House on the Prairie." Ward contributed scripts to both series. In addition, John was creator of and writer for "Shannon." The Hawkins' also proposed their own series: "The Golden Tramp," "Jake Sloan," "Vietnam," among others.

In addition to short stories and teleplays, the Hawkins' wrote novels and screenplays. The brothers were well known in their field and respected for their professionalism and ability to produce quality "formula" stories and scripts.

John Hawkins died in 1978 after a long illness, after producing "Little House on the Prairie" for four years. Ward Hawkins is living in California.

From the guide to the John and Ward Hawkins papers, 1937-1981, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)