1.
William Powell
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William Horatio Powell was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, for The Thin Man, My Man Godfrey, and Life with Father, an only child, Powell was born in Pittsburgh to Nettie Manila and Horatio Warren Powell, on July 29,1892. His father was born in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, to William S. in 1907, he moved with his family to Kansas City, Missouri, where he graduated from Central High School in 1910. After high school, he left home for New York and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at the age of 18, in 1912, Powell graduated from the AADA, and worked in some vaudeville and stock companies. Powells most famous role was that of Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, beginning with The Thin Man in 1934, Myrna Loy played his wife, Nora, in each of the Thin Man films. Their on-screen partnership, beginning alongside Clark Gable in 1934 with Manhattan Melodrama, was one of Hollywoods most prolific, Loy and Powell starred in the Best Picture of 1936, The Great Ziegfeld, with Powell in the title role and Loy as Ziegfelds wife Billie Burke. That same year, he received his second Academy Award nomination. In 1935, he starred with Harlow in Reckless, a serious romance developed between them, and in 1936, they were reunited on screen and with Loy and Spencer Tracy in the screwball comedy Libeled Lady. Harlow died from uremia at the age of 26 in June 1937 before they could marry and his distress over her death, as well as a cancer diagnosis, caused him to accept fewer acting roles. Powells career slowed considerably in the 1940s, although he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1947 for his role as the cantankerous Clarence Day and his last film was 1955s Mister Roberts. In 1915, he married Eileen Wilson who was born Julia Tierney, with whom he had his child, William David Powell. Powells son became a writer and producer before a period of ill health led to his suicide in 1968. On June 26,1931, Powell married actress Carole Lombard, the marriage lasted just over two years. They were divorced in 1933, though they, too, remained on good terms, Powell was devastated when he learned of her death in 1942. In 1937, Powell was diagnosed with cancer and he underwent surgery and experimental radium treatment which put the disease in full remission within two years. Given his own health and sorrow over Jean Harlows death, Powell did not undertake any film roles for over a year during this period, three weeks after they met, on January 6,1940, Powell married actress Diana Lewis, whom he called Mousie. Powell died in Palm Springs, California, on March 5,1984, at the age of 91 and he is buried at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California, near his son William David Powell and wife Diana Lewis
2.
Myrna Loy
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Myrna Loy was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to a career following a few minor roles in silent films. She was originally typecast in roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent. During World War II, Loy served as assistant to the director of military and she was later appointed a member-at-large of the U. S. While the height of her popularity was during the 1930s and 40s, she continued to pursue stage, television. Loy was born in Helena, Montana, the daughter of Adelle Mae and rancher David Franklin Williams and she had a younger brother, David Williams. Loys paternal grandparents were Welsh, and her grandparents were Scottish and Swedish. Her first name was derived from a stop near Broken Bow, Nebraska. Her father was also a banker and real estate developer and the youngest man elected to the Montana state legislature. Her mother studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, during the winter of 1912, Loys mother nearly died from pneumonia, and her father sent his wife and daughter to La Jolla, California. Loys mother saw great potential in Southern California, and during one of her husbands visits, among the properties he bought was land he later sold at a considerable profit to Charlie Chaplin so the filmmaker could construct his studio there. Although her mother tried to persuade her husband to move to California permanently, he preferred ranch life and the three eventually returned to Montana. Loys father died on November 7,1918, of Spanish influenza, and Loys mother was able to realize her dream to permanently relocate her family to California. Loy attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles, California, when her teachers objected to her participating in theatrical arts, her mother enrolled her in Venice High School, and at 15, she began appearing in local stage productions. In 1921, Loy posed for Venice High School sculpture teacher Harry Fielding Winebrenner for the central figure Inspiration in his sculpture group Fountain of Education. Completed in 1922, the group was erected in front of the campus outdoor pool in May 1923 where it stood for decades. Fountain of Education can be seen in the scenes of the 1978 film Grease. Loy left school at the age of 18 to help with the familys finances and she obtained work at Graumans Egyptian Theatre, where she performed in elaborate musical sequences that were related to and served as prologues for the feature film
3.
James Stewart
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James Maitland Stewart, also known as Jimmy Stewart, was an American actor and military officer who is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. A major Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player, Stewart was known for his distinctive drawl and down-to-earth persona, many of the films he starred in have become enduring classics. Stewart was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition for The Philadelphia Story, in 1999, Stewart was named the third greatest male screen legend of the Golden Age of Hollywood by the American Film Institute, behind Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant. The American Film Institute has also named five of Stewarts films to its list of the 100 best American films ever made. Stewart was born on May 20,1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the son of Elizabeth Ruth Jackson and Alexander Maitland Stewart, Stewart was mainly of Scottish ancestry and was raised as a Presbyterian. He was descended from veterans of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the eldest of three children, he was expected to continue his fathers business, which had been in the family for three generations. His mother was an excellent pianist but his father discouraged Stewarts request for lessons, when his father accepted a gift of an accordion from a guest, young Stewart quickly learned to play the instrument, which became a fixture offstage during his acting career. As the family grew, music continued to be an important part of family life, Stewart attended Mercersburg Academy prep school, graduating in 1928. He was active in a variety of activities and he played on the football and track teams, was art editor of the KARUX yearbook, and a member of the choir club, glee club, and John Marshall Literary Society. Over the following two summers, he took a job as an assistant with a professional magician and he made his first appearance onstage at Mercersburg, as Buquet in the play The Wolves. A shy child, Stewart spent much of his time in the basement working on model airplanes, mechanical drawing. However, he abandoned visions of being a pilot when his father insisted that instead of the United States Naval Academy he attend Princeton University, Stewart enrolled at Princeton in 1928 as a member of the class of 1932. His acting and accordion talents at Princeton led him to be invited to the University Players, the company had been organized in 1928 and would run until 1932, with Joshua Logan, Bretaigne Windust and Charles Leatherbee as directors. Stewart performed in bit parts in the Players productions in Cape Cod during the summer of 1932, the troupe had previously included Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan. Stewart and Fonda became close friends over the summer of 1932 when they shared an apartment with Joshua Logan, the New Yorker commented, Mr. James Stewarts chauffeur. Comes on for three minutes and walks off to a round of spontaneous applause, the play was a moderate success, but times were hard. Many Broadway theaters had been converted to houses and the Depression was reaching bottom. From 1932 through 1934, Stewart later recalled, Id only worked three months, every play I got into folded
4.
Joseph Calleia
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Joseph Calleia was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. Calleia became a star with the play Small Miracle, his first real role as a heavy, during World War II Calleia led the Malta War Relief organization in the U. S. After the war he continued to work steadily in motion pictures and television, calleias performance in Orson Welless 1958 film Touch of Evil is regarded as one of the best in his career. Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja was born in Notabile in the Crown Colony of Malta on August 4,1897, Calleia studied at St. Julians and St. Aloysius Colleges. At age 12 he used the English pound given to him for Christmas to buy two dozen harmonicas, and organized a band whose performances were soon netting £100 a week. Sent by his father to London to study engineering, Calleia employed his good tenor voice in music halls and he worked as Joseph Spurin, using his mothers maiden name due to his fathers disapproval. In 1914 Calleia joined the British Transport Service, after cruising the world for two-and-a-half years, his ship was torpedoed in the English Channel. Hospitalized for three months, Calleia was awarded a medal and honorably discharged. He traveled to the United States in 1917, unemployed, he sang for the Red Cross and armed services, and volunteered for the American Tank Corps. Calleia began his career on Armistice Day. After World War I he found limited success in vaudeville. He earned his living stoking the furnace at a department store, by day he haunted theatrical booking offices. The Henry W. Savage agency sent Calleia to Denver, where he made his debut singing in the chorus of the musical comedy. The following season he had a bit part in Pietro, an Otis Skinner vehicle that played six weeks on Broadway and 40 weeks on tour, Calleia supplemented his salary by working as assistant stage manager and repairing trunks at $3 each. Calleias first speaking role on the stage was in The Broken Wing and he understudied all of the parts and appeared as a Mexican peon who played the guitar and sang a song called Adelai. Calleia composed the tune, and asked Abbott to write the lyrics, the Broken Wing was a hit, and after the plays New York run Calleia and Thurston Hall were carried over in a London production. After four months the show closed and Calleia visited Malta, where he, at his fathers request he began using his real surname, and was billed as Joseph Spurin-Calleia. On February 14,1925, Calleia made his debut at Town Hall in New York City
5.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
6.
San Francisco
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
7.
Skippy (dog)
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Skippy was a Wire Fox Terrier dog actor who appeared in dozens of movies during the 1930s. Skippy is best known for the role of the pet dog Asta in the 1934 detective comedy The Thin Man, starring William Powell, due to the popularity of the role, Skippy is sometimes credited as Asta in public and in other films. Skippy was trained by his owners Henry East and Gale Henry East, in 1936, Skippy and several other movie dogs were profiled in the book Dog Stars of Hollywood by Gertrude Orr. At the time Skippy was said to be four and a years old. He was said to be one of the most intelligent of animal stars then working in pictures, in addition to verbal commands, he also worked to hand cues, essential for a dog performing in sound films. His training began when he was three months old, and he made his first professional appearances at the age of one year, in 1932–33. In Orrs book Skippy was shown in a series of publicity shots with Wendy Barrie in Its a Small World, Mae Clarke in The Daring Young Man and he became a star overnight in The Thin Man. Skippy also made a hit as Mr. Smith in the 1937 film The Awful Truth, in Bringing Up Baby, Skippy played George, the bone-hiding pup belonging to Katharine Hepburns aunt, and in Topper Takes a Trip, he was Mr. Atlas. The American Magazine detailed Skippys professional life in an August 1938 profile of the East kennels, titled A Dogs Life in Hollywood and they coo at him and murmur endearing terms in his ears. He takes it all in his stride, because, what with contracts, options, but if hes paid for it and given the proper cue he will snuggle in the arms of the loveliest of stars, gaze into her limpid eyes, and, if necessary—howl. Skippy, a smart little wire-haired terrier, is one of the stars in pictures. He leads a glamorous life—a dogs life de luxe and he is rated as one of the smartest dogs in the world, and when contracts are signed for his appearance in a picture he gets $200 a week for putting his paw-print on the dotted line. His trainer gets a mere $60 and his owner is Mrs. Gale Henry East, once a prominent movie comedienne. When Skippy has to water in a scene, the first time he does it he really drinks. If there are retakes and hes had all the water he can drink, hell go through the scene just as enthusiastically as though his throat were parched, if you watch closely youll see hes just going through the motions of lapping and isnt really picking up water at all. And, because he has a sense of humor, he loves it when you laugh and tell him youve caught him faking, treat a dog kindly and hell do anything in the world for you. At a time when most canine actors in Hollywood films earned $3.50 a day, Skippys weekly salary was $250.00. As a character in the movie The Thin Man, Asta was the pet dog of Nick and Nora Charles, tugging them around town on his walks, hiding from danger
8.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
9.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time
10.
Lux Radio Theatre
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Lux Radio Theatre, sometimes spelled Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network, CBS Radio, and NBC Radio. Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films and these hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years. The primary sponsor of the show was Unilever through its Lux Soap brand, broadcasting from New York, the series premiered at 2,30 p. m. October 14,1934, on the NBC Blue Network with a production of Seventh Heaven starring Miriam Hopkins, the host was the shows fictional producer, Douglass Garrick. Doris Dagmar played another character, Peggy Winthrop, who delivered the Lux commercials. Each show featured a session with Garrick talking to the lead actors. Anthony appeared as Garrick from the premiere 1934 episode until June 30,1935, Garrick was portrayed by Albert Hayes from July 29,1935 to May 25,1936, when the show moved to the West Coast. DeMille took over as the host on June 1,1936 and that initial episode with DeMille featured Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable in The Legionnaire and the Lady. On several occasions, usually when he was out of town, he was replaced by various celebrities. Lux Radio Theatre strove to feature as many of the stars of the original stage and film productions as possible. In 1936, when sponsor Lever Brothers moved the show from New York City to Hollywood, the first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the stars, Myrna Loy. Though the show focused on film and its performers, several classic radio regulars appeared in Lux Radio Theatre productions. Jim and Marian Jordan, better known as Fibber McGee and Molly, appeared on the show twice, bryan, made a few Lux appearances as well. Bandleader Phil Harris, a regular on Jack Bennys radio program and his wife Alice Faye. Fred Allen, Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen were among the radio stars who were invited to do Lux presentations as well. At least once Lux Radio Theatre offered a presentation without any known performers, a famous urban legend claimed that actor Sonny Tufts was slated to appear as a guest alongside Joan Fontaine for a production of The Major and the Minor on Lux Radio Theatre
11.
Dashiell Hammett
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Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, screenwriter, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, in his obituary in The New York Times, he was described as the dean of the. Time magazine included Hammetts 1929 novel Red Harvest on its list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005 and his novels and stories also had a significant influence on films. Hammett was born on a farm in Saint Marys County, Maryland and his parents were Richard Thomas Hammett and Anne Bond Dashiell, his mother belonged to an old Maryland family, whose name in French was De Chiel. Known as Sam, Hammett was baptized a Catholic, and grew up in Philadelphia and he left school when he was 13 years old and held several jobs before working for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. He served as an operative for Pinkerton from 1915 to February 1922, the agencys role in union strike-breaking eventually left him disillusioned. Hammett enlisted in the Army in 1918 and served in the Motor Ambulance Corps and he was afflicted during that time with the Spanish flu and later contracted tuberculosis. He spent most of his time in the Army as a patient at Cushman Hospital in Tacoma, Washington, where he met a nurse, Josephine Dolan, Hammett and Dolan had two daughters, Mary Jane and Josephine. Shortly after the birth of their child, Health Services nurses informed Dolan that due to Hammetts TB, she. Dolan rented a home in San Francisco, California, where Hammett would visit on weekends, the marriage soon fell apart, but he continued to financially support his wife and daughters with the income he made from his writing. Hammett was first published in 1922 in the magazine The Smart Set, known for the authenticity and realism of his writing, he drew on his experiences as a Pinkerton operative. Hammett wrote most of his fiction while he was living in San Francisco in the 1920s, streets. He said that All my characters were based on people Ive known personally, Raymond Chandler, often considered Hammetts successor, summarized his accomplishments in The Simple Art of Murder, Hammett was the ace performer. He is said to have lacked heart, yet the story he himself thought the most of and he was spare, frugal, hard-boiled, but he did over and over again what only the best writers can ever do at all. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have written before. In 1929 and 1930, he was involved with Nell Martin. He dedicated The Glass Key to her, and in turn, in 1931, Hammett embarked on a 30-year affair with the playwright Lillian Hellman. Though he sporadically continued to work on material, he wrote his novel in 1934
