American screenwriter and film producer.
He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable and Victor Fleming. In the words of one profile, he had "a flair for rousing adventure material, and at the same time he wrote some of the raciest and most sophisticated sexual comedies of that period."
After graduation from Harvard University, he worked in advertising in New York while writing fiction, and was brought to Hollywood by the screenwriter Ben Hecht, who had read one of Mr. Mahin's short stories. His first screenplay was for the 1932 film "Red Dust," which starred Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and for the next three decades he worked on dramas, comedies, mysteries, westerns and gangster films for the major Hollywood studios, mainly at MGM. He wrote and co-wrote more than three dozen scripts - both original stories and adaptations - including "Scarface" (1932), "Boom Town" (1940), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "Johnny Eager" (1941), "Tortilla Flat" (1942), the 1951 "Show Boat," "Quo Vadis" (1951), "Mogambo" (1953), "The Bad Seed" (1956), and "Moment to Moment" (1966). He was nominated for Academy Awards in 1938 for adapting "Captains Courageous" and in 1958 for "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison", which he co- wrote with John Huston. He received the Screen Writers Guild of America Laurel Award in 1958 for Screen Writing Achievement. There were 3 other nominations in the years 1952, 58 and 1961 for best written screenplays. He was a founder of the Screen Writers Guild in 1933, but in the late 1930s, he became president of the Screen Playwrights Guild, an organization that was opposed to the Screen Writers Guild; he rejoined the Screen Writers Guild in 1948. In 1958 he started a production company with fellow screenwriter Martin Rackin, to make "The Horse Soldiers" from their own screenplay. Mahin-Rackin Productions also made "North To Alaska" in 1960. He died of emphysema, survived by his wife Micca and three children.
He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable and Victor Fleming. In the words of one profile, he had "a flair for rousing adventure material, and at the same time he wrote some of the raciest and most sophisticated sexual comedies of that period."
After graduation from Harvard University, he worked in advertising in New York while writing fiction, and was brought to Hollywood by the screenwriter Ben Hecht, who had read one of Mr. Mahin's short stories. His first screenplay was for the 1932 film "Red Dust," which starred Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and for the next three decades he worked on dramas, comedies, mysteries, westerns and gangster films for the major Hollywood studios, mainly at MGM. He wrote and co-wrote more than three dozen scripts - both original stories and adaptations - including "Scarface" (1932), "Boom Town" (1940), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "Johnny Eager" (1941), "Tortilla Flat" (1942), the 1951 "Show Boat," "Quo Vadis" (1951), "Mogambo" (1953), "The Bad Seed" (1956), and "Moment to Moment" (1966). He was nominated for Academy Awards in 1938 for adapting "Captains Courageous" and in 1958 for "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison", which he co- wrote with John Huston. He received the Screen Writers Guild of America Laurel Award in 1958 for Screen Writing Achievement. There were 3 other nominations in the years 1952, 58 and 1961 for best written screenplays. He was a founder of the Screen Writers Guild in 1933, but in the late 1930s, he became president of the Screen Playwrights Guild, an organization that was opposed to the Screen Writers Guild; he rejoined the Screen Writers Guild in 1948. In 1958 he started a production company with fellow screenwriter Martin Rackin, to make "The Horse Soldiers" from their own screenplay. Mahin-Rackin Productions also made "North To Alaska" in 1960. He died of emphysema, survived by his wife Micca and three children.
American screenwriter and film producer.
He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable and Victor Fleming. In the words of one profile, he had "a flair for rousing adventure material, and at the same time he wrote some of the raciest and most sophisticated sexual comedies of that period."
After graduation from Harvard University, he worked in advertising in New York while writing fiction, and was brought to Hollywood by the screenwriter Ben Hecht, who had read one of Mr. Mahin's short stories. His first screenplay was for the 1932 film "Red Dust," which starred Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and for the next three decades he worked on dramas, comedies, mysteries, westerns and gangster films for the major Hollywood studios, mainly at MGM. He wrote and co-wrote more than three dozen scripts - both original stories and adaptations - including "Scarface" (1932), "Boom Town" (1940), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "Johnny Eager" (1941), "Tortilla Flat" (1942), the 1951 "Show Boat," "Quo Vadis" (1951), "Mogambo" (1953), "The Bad Seed" (1956), and "Moment to Moment" (1966). He was nominated for Academy Awards in 1938 for adapting "Captains Courageous" and in 1958 for "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison", which he co- wrote with John Huston. He received the Screen Writers Guild of America Laurel Award in 1958 for Screen Writing Achievement. There were 3 other nominations in the years 1952, 58 and 1961 for best written screenplays. He was a founder of the Screen Writers Guild in 1933, but in the late 1930s, he became president of the Screen Playwrights Guild, an organization that was opposed to the Screen Writers Guild; he rejoined the Screen Writers Guild in 1948. In 1958 he started a production company with fellow screenwriter Martin Rackin, to make "The Horse Soldiers" from their own screenplay. Mahin-Rackin Productions also made "North To Alaska" in 1960. He died of emphysema, survived by his wife Micca and three children.
He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable and Victor Fleming. In the words of one profile, he had "a flair for rousing adventure material, and at the same time he wrote some of the raciest and most sophisticated sexual comedies of that period."
After graduation from Harvard University, he worked in advertising in New York while writing fiction, and was brought to Hollywood by the screenwriter Ben Hecht, who had read one of Mr. Mahin's short stories. His first screenplay was for the 1932 film "Red Dust," which starred Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and for the next three decades he worked on dramas, comedies, mysteries, westerns and gangster films for the major Hollywood studios, mainly at MGM. He wrote and co-wrote more than three dozen scripts - both original stories and adaptations - including "Scarface" (1932), "Boom Town" (1940), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "Johnny Eager" (1941), "Tortilla Flat" (1942), the 1951 "Show Boat," "Quo Vadis" (1951), "Mogambo" (1953), "The Bad Seed" (1956), and "Moment to Moment" (1966). He was nominated for Academy Awards in 1938 for adapting "Captains Courageous" and in 1958 for "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison", which he co- wrote with John Huston. He received the Screen Writers Guild of America Laurel Award in 1958 for Screen Writing Achievement. There were 3 other nominations in the years 1952, 58 and 1961 for best written screenplays. He was a founder of the Screen Writers Guild in 1933, but in the late 1930s, he became president of the Screen Playwrights Guild, an organization that was opposed to the Screen Writers Guild; he rejoined the Screen Writers Guild in 1948. In 1958 he started a production company with fellow screenwriter Martin Rackin, to make "The Horse Soldiers" from their own screenplay. Mahin-Rackin Productions also made "North To Alaska" in 1960. He died of emphysema, survived by his wife Micca and three children.
Bio by: Fritz Tauber
Gravesite Details
Cremated by the Neptune society, Los Angeles through Angeles Abbey.
Family Members
Siblings
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