Horton Foote

Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and his original screenplay for the film Tender Mercies (1983). He was also known for his notable live television dramas produced during the Golden Age of Television. Foote received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play The Young Man From Atlanta. He was the inaugural recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Early life Foote was born in 1916 in Wharton, Texas, the son of Harriet Gautier "Hallie" Brooks (1894–1974) and Albert Horton Foote (1890–1973). His younger brothers were Thomas Brooks Foote (1921–44), who died in aerial combat over Germany during World War II, and John Speed Foote (1923–95). Television Foote moved to California, where he studied theater at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1931–32. He began his career as an actor, but was also writing plays. After getting better reviews for his plays than for his acting, during the 1940s he focused on writing. He became one of the leading writers for American television during the 1950s, beginning with an episode of The Gabby Hayes Show.