William Bowers facts for kids

William Bowers (born January 17, 1916 – died March 27, 1987) was an American writer. He worked as a reporter for newspapers and Life magazine. William Bowers became famous for writing funny Western movies. He also wrote exciting thriller films.

William Bowers's Career in Film

William Bowers started his writing career with a play called Where Do We Go From Here?. It was shown 15 times in 1938.

Early Movies at RKO Studio

Bowers began working for RKO, a big movie studio. His first movie script was for My Favorite Spy in 1942. He also helped write the musical comedy Seven Days' Leave (1942). This movie was a huge success. He also worked on The Adventures of a Rookie (1943). Bowers helped write Higher and Higher (1943), which was Frank Sinatra's very first movie.

Serving in World War II

During World War II, William Bowers joined the United States Army Air Forces. He was part of a program that trained civilian pilots. There, he met a person named Arch Hall Sr.. Later, Bowers wrote a movie script based on his experiences in the war. The movie was called The Last Time I Saw Archie. In this film, Jack Webb played the character based on Bowers.

Writing After the War

After the war, Bowers continued to write many films. He wrote Sing Your Way Home (1945) for RKO. He also helped write The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946) for Columbia Pictures. For Warner Bros., he worked on Night and Day (1946), a movie about the famous composer Cole Porter. He also wrote the story for The Fabulous Suzanne (1946).

Working at Universal Studios

At Universal Studios, Bowers wrote The Web (1947), a detective story. He also wrote Something in the Wind (1947). This was one of the last movies for actress Deanna Durbin. Bowers created the story for the funny Abbott and Costello movie The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1948). He also wrote two Westerns starring Yvonne de Carlo: Black Bart, Highwayman (1948) and River Lady (1948). He wrote another detective film called Larceny (1948). He also worked on a musical movie called The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948).

A play he wrote, West of Tomorrow, was made into a movie called Jungle Patrol.

Oscar Nomination for The Gunfighter

In 1950, William Bowers was nominated for an Oscar. This was for his work on the tough Western movie The Gunfighter. The film starred Gregory Peck.

Bowers wrote many other movies during this time. These included Convicted (1950) and The Mob (1951). He also wrote for TV shows like Four Star Theatre and Where's Raymond?. He worked on Tight Spot (1955) and 5 Against the House (1955). He also wrote episodes for General Electric Theatre. In 1957, he worked on a new version of the movie My Man Godfrey.

More Oscar Nominations and Westerns

At MGM, William Bowers wrote The Sheepman (1958). This movie earned him his second Oscar nomination. He continued to write Westerns like The Law and Jake Wade (1958). He also wrote a comedy for Bob Hope called Alias Jesse James (1959). Bowers worked with Jack Webb on two films: Deadline Midnight (1959) and The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961).

He wrote Company of Cowards? (1964) and a Jerry Lewis comedy, Way... Way Out (1966). He also wrote another Western, The Ride to Hangman's Tree (1967).

Producing Support Your Local Sheriff!

William Bowers produced the last movie he wrote, a funny Western called Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969). He also had a small acting role in the movie The Godfather Part II (1974).

Later, he focused on writing movies for television. These included Sidekicks (1974) and The Gun and the Pulpit (1974). He also produced Mobile Two (1975). Other TV movies he wrote were Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (1978) and The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979).

William Bowers's Filmography

Writer

• My Favorite Spy (1942)
• The Fabulous Suzanne (1946)
• Larceny (1948)
• The Gunfighter (1950)
• Assignment – Paris! (1952)
• Imitation General (1958)
• -30- (1959)
• The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)
• Support Your Local Sheriff (1969)

Actor

• The Godfather Part II (1974) - Senate Committee Chairman