Richard Schayer

Biography

Richard Schayer was an American screenwriter from Washington, D.C., active from 1916 to his death in 1956. He wrote or co-wrote the scripts for nearly a 100 films, and he was a prolific writer of Westerns. He is primarily remembered for scripting the Gothic horror films "Frankenstein" (1931) and "The Mummy" (1932), which were both box office hits. In 1880, Schayer was born in Washington, D.C. His father was Colonel George Frederick Schayer, Deputy Recorder of Deeds in Washington, D.C.. His mother was Julia Schayer (1842-1928), a professional writer who is mostly remembered for her short stories. Schayer was a younger, maternal half-brother of the poet Leonora Speyer (1872 - 1956). Leonora won the the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Through Leonora's marriage, Schayer was a brother-in-law of the British financier and music patron Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet (1862-1932). Schayer worked for various film studios in Los Angeles. He served as an executive of Universal Pictures, when the studio was under the control of its co-founder Carl Laemmle (1867-1939). Laemmle lost control of the company in 1936, and several of his associates were pushed out by the new management. Schayer continued working in the film industry until his death. He died in Hollywood, Los Angeles, where he had spend much of his career. He received several writing credits following his death. In part due to the reuse of his scripts in remake films, and in part due to the filming of his unused scripts.