Noel Langley facts for kids

Noel Langley (born December 25, 1911 – died November 4, 1980) was a talented writer and director. He was born in South Africa but later became an American citizen. He is best known for his work as a screenwriter, especially for the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. He was one of three writers who helped create the script for this beloved movie.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Noel Langley was born on Christmas Day in Durban, South Africa. His father, Aubrey Samuel Langley, was the headmaster of Durban High School, where Noel also went to school until 1930. After high school, Noel studied at the University of Natal and earned his degree in 1934. While at university, he discovered his love for writing plays.

One of his plays, Queer Cargo, was first performed in Durban in 1932. After graduating, Noel moved to England. By chance, he met a relative of Charles Wyndham, who founded London's famous Wyndham's Theatre. This meeting helped Queer Cargo get produced in London, where it was very successful and ran for seven months! Noel wrote other plays for the West End stage during this time.

His first big success as a novelist came in 1935 with his book Cage Me a Peacock. He also wrote another novel, There's a Porpoise Close Behind Us, and a children's book called The Land of Green Ginger in 1936. In the 1930s, Noel also started writing for films in Britain, including King of the Damned and Secret of Stamboul. Soon after, he moved to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter for MGM, a major film studio.

Writing The Wizard of Oz

At MGM, Noel Langley's first film credit was for Maytime in 1937. Because he had written his own successful children's book, The Land of Green Ginger, he was chosen to help adapt L. Frank Baum's famous book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into a movie script.

Noel quickly wrote a 43-page script in just 11 days! He added some important ideas to the story that you see in the movie today. For example, he made the actors who played the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion also appear as farmworkers in the Kansas scenes. He also changed the color of Dorothy's shoes from silver to the famous ruby red. Noel also created the character of Miss Almira Gulch, who is the Kansas version of the Wicked Witch.

After he wrote his final script, MGM hired other writers, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, to make changes. Noel was not happy with their changes and removed many of them when he got the script back. He felt their version was "too sweet and gooey."

When the movie was released in August 1939, Noel was initially disappointed. He even cried when he first saw it! However, he changed his mind years later when he saw the film again in 1949. He realized it was "not a bad picture."

Later Career and Other Works

After World War II, where he served in the Royal Canadian Navy, Noel Langley worked on many British films. He also co-wrote a popular play called Edward, My Son. His film work includes They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), Scrooge (1951), The Pickwick Papers (1952), Ivanhoe (1952), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1952).

In 1964, Noel recorded his children's book, The Tale of the Land of Green Ginger, for a radio station in New York. He later edited it into an LP record. Noel continued to write novels, plays, and short stories throughout his life. His short stories appeared in popular magazines like Saturday Evening Post.

Personal Life

In 1937, Noel Langley married Naomi Mary Legate in Los Angeles. They had known each other since his time in South Africa. They had five children together. The couple divorced in 1954, and Noel was given custody of their children.

Noel married actress Pamela Deeming in 1959. In 1961, he became a naturalized US citizen. Noel Langley passed away in 1980 in Desert Hot Springs, California, United States.

Selected Filmography

• King of the Damned (1935)
• Secret of Stamboul (1936)
• Maytime (1937)
• Marie Antoinette (1938)
• Queer Cargo (1938, based on his play)
• Listen, Darling (1938)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Babes in Arms (1939)
• Northwest Passage (1940)
• Florian (1940)
• Unexpected Uncle (1941)
• They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
• The Vicious Circle (1948)
• Edward, My Son (1949, based on his play)
• Cardboard Cavalier (1949)
• Adam and Evelyne (1949)
• Trio (1950)
• Her Favourite Husband (1950)
• Honeymoon Deferred (1951)
• Scrooge (1951)
• Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951)
• Ivanhoe (1952)
• Father's Doing Fine (1952, based on his play)
• The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
• The Pickwick Papers (1952)
• Our Girl Friday (1953)
• Knights of the Round Table (1953)
• Svengali (1954)
• The Vagabond King (1956)
• The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956)
• Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961)
• Pete's Dragon (1957–58 spec script; realized 1975 by Malcolm Marmorstein)

See also

In Spanish: Noel Langley para niños