thumb|right|Hayes (right) with [[Alfred Hitchcock]]

John Michael Hayes (11 May 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an American screenwriter, who wrote four of Alfred Hitchcock's films in the 1950s.

Early life and education

Hayes was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to John Michael Hayes Sr. and Ellen Mabel Hayes. Hayes Sr. was a tool and die maker but had performed as a song and dance man on the Keith-Orpheum vaudeville circuit earlier in life.

As a child, Hayes missed much of his school career from second grade through fifth grade due to ear infections. with Susan Hayward, Mike Connors and Bette Davis. His adaptation of Grace Metalious's steamy bestseller, Peyton Place, earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Hayes collaborated with director Alfred Hitchcock on four films: Rear Window (for which he won an Edgar Award and an Oscar nomination), To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Their first collaboration, Rear Window, is considered by many critics to be one of Hitchcock's best and most thrilling pictures. The Man Who Knew Too Much, a remake of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name, became one of the most financially successful films of its year of release. The pair parted company forever after that film.

After several years of retirement, Hayes resurfaced to co-write director Charles Haid's family adventure drama Iron Will, starring Kevin Spacey, in 1994. He taught film writing at Dartmouth College until he retired in 2000.

In 2001, Hayes' collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock was the subject of the book Writing with Hitchcock by Steven DeRosa, which gave a full account of Hayes's four film collaboration with the director. In 2004, Hayes was the recipient of the Writers Guild of America's highest honor, the Screen Laurel Award. Hayes died of natural causes on November 19, 2008, in Hanover, New Hampshire. A movie based upon Writing with Hitchcock is currently in development and a new edition was published in 2011 containing additional material.

Select filmography

  • Thunder Bay (1953)
  • Torch Song (1953)
  • Rear Window (1954)
  • To Catch a Thief (1955)
  • The Trouble with Harry (1955)
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  • Peyton Place (1957)
  • The Matchmaker (1958)
  • But Not for Me (1959)
  • BUtterfield 8 (1960)
  • The Children's Hour (1961)
  • The Chalk Garden (1964)
  • The Carpetbaggers (1964)
  • Harlow (1965)
  • Nevada Smith (1966)
  • Judith (1966)
  • Winter Kill (1974)
  • Pancho Barnes (1988)
  • Iron Will (1994)

Notes

References