Lamar Trotti

Upon graduating from the University of Georgia, Atlanta native Lamar Trotti was employed as a newspaper writer/editor, then moved into show business as the editor of a Hollywood trade magazine. Appointed an executive at Fox Studios in 1933, Trotti launched his new job by scripting the critically acclaimed The Man Who Dared (1933), a fictionalized paean to slain Chicago mayor Anton Cermak. He went on to script a handful of Will Rogers films, then concentrated on A-pictures after Fox's merger with 20th Century. Usually collaborating with Dudley Nichols, he penned a number of prestigious screenplays for such directors as John Ford and William Wellman. From 1942 onward, he produced most of the films that he co-scripted, including The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Captain From Castile (1947), and Cheaper by the Dozen (1950). Lamar Trotti received Academy Award nominations for his scriptwork on Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1952), and he won the coveted Oscar for Wilson (1944).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide