Shirley Kassler Ulmer (June 12, 1914 - July 6, 2000) was an American screenwriter.[1][2]

Early life

Shirley Beatrice Kassler was born in New York in 1914.[1] After her banker father lost his saving in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the family moved to California.[1]

Career

While living in California, Kassler "met picture people" and began working as a script supervisor in Hollywood.[3] She married Max Alexander, nephew of Universal Studios' founder Carl Laemmle, in 1933.[1][4]

While working on The Black Cat (1934) as a script supervisor, Kassler met Edgar G. Ulmer.[1][3] The two began a relationship after work on the film finished, and Kassler started divorce proceedings while living with Ulmer in the Hotel Christie on Hollywood Boulevard.[3] The relationship angered Kassler's uncle-in-law, Laemmie. He blacklisted Kassler and Ulmer, preventing either from getting jobs in Hollywood. Kassler's final work on a Hollywood film was Thunder Over Texas (1934), which she wrote, Ulmer directed, and her then-husband, Alexander, produced.[1]

After leaving Hollywood, Kassler and Ulmer married in early 1935, a few months before Kassler's 21st birthday,[3] and moved to New York, where Shirley modeled hats and Edgar worked as a cameraman for Pathé News.[1] The couple went to Canada in 1936, when they were hired by producer William Steiner to film a thriller called From Nine To Nine.[1] The two were paid poorly, making essentially no money after Shirley developed appendicitis and required medical care.[1] Their next project, Natalka Poltavka, was more successful,[1] and Shirley played a small role in the film after an actress no-showed.[3]

While living in New York, the couple were encouraged to make films for the large Yiddish-speaking population there.[1] Their first film, Green Fields (1937), was a success, leading to subsequent films. Shirley Ulmer continue to worked on scripts for her husband's films, including The Light Ahead (1939),[5] American Matchmaker (1940),[2] Girls in Chains (1943), Jive Junction (1943), Strange Illusion (1945), and Detour (1945).[1]

Ulmer also worked as a script supervisor under the name Shirley Castle for directors such as Frank Borzage, Frank Lloyd, Douglas Sirk, and William Wyler.[1][6] She also worked as a script supervisor for the TV series Batman, CHIPs, The Lone Ranger, and S.W.A.T.[1][2][6]

Ulmer co-wrote novels under the name Shirle Castle,[2][6] and a 1986 book titled The Role Of Script Supervision In Film And Television.[1][7]

Following Edgar Ulmer's death in 1972, Shirley Ulmer became director of the Edgar G Ulmer Preservation Corporation.[1]

Filmography

Year Film Role Ref
1934 I Can't Escape [3]
The Black Cat Script supervisor [1]
Thunder Over Texas Story, Script supervisor [5]
1937 Natalka Poltavka Script supervisor
Green Fields
1939 The Singing Blacksmith
Cossacks in Exile
Moon Over Harlem Script writer, supervisor
The Light Ahead Script writer
1940 American Matchmaker Script writer, supervisor
1943 Girls in Chains [1]
Jive Junction
1945 Detour
Strange Illusion
1948 Ruthless Script supervisor [5]
1960 The Amazing Transparent Man
Beyond the Time Barrier
1973 Little Cigars
1975 Return to Macon County

Personal life

Ulmer had a daughter with her second husband, Edgar Ulmer.[1]

Ulmer died of natural causes in July 2000 in Los Angeles.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Bergan, Ronald (2000-09-04). "Shirley Ulmer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Archives, L. A. Times (2000-08-14). "Shirley Kassler Ulmer; Screenwriter of 'American Matchmaker'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Weaver, Tom (2010-06-21). I Was a Monster Movie Maker: Conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers. McFarland. pp. 227–236. ISBN 978-0-7864-6265-0.
  4. ↑ Isenberg, Noah William (2014-01-09). Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins. Univ of California Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-520-23577-9.
  5. 1 2 3 "SHIRLEY ULMER". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Wolf, Jonathan (2000-08-16). "Shirley Kassler Ulmer". Variety. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  7. ↑ Ulmer, Shirley; Sevilla, Carol R. (1986). The Role of Script Supervision in Film and Television: A Career Guide. Hastings House. ISBN 978-0-8038-6366-8.
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