John Michael Hayes

From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki

born: 11/May/1919 (Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)
died: 19/Nov/2008 (Hanover, New Hampshire, USA)

[edit] Biography

John Michael Hayes was an American playwright born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He wrote for newspapers and radio shows before becoming a movie screenwriter.

Much of Hayes's career was spent writing screenplays for glossy, big-budget melodramas like "Torch Song" with Joan Crawford, "Butterfield 8" with Elizabeth Taylor, "The Carpetbaggers" with Carroll Baker, and "Where Love Has Gone" with Susan Hayward and Bette Davis. His adaptation of Grace Metalious's steamy bestseller, "Peyton Place", earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Hayes collaborated with director Alfred Hitchcock on four films: "Rear Window" (for which he won an Edgar Award and an Oscar nomination), "To Catch a Thief", "The Trouble with Harry" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Their first collaboration, "Rear Window", is considered by many critics to be one of Hitchcock's best and most thrilling pictures. "The Man Who Knew Too Much", a remake of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name, became one of the most financially successful films of its year of release.

After several years of retirement, Hayes resurfaced to co-write director Charles Haid's family adventure drama "Iron Will", starring Kevin Spacey, in 1994. He taught film writing at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire until he retired in 2000.

He died of natural causes on November 19, 2008, in Hanover, New Hampshire.

(Wikipedia)