W.P. Lipscomb

Biography

Oscar-winner W.P. Lipscomb (born William Percy Lipscomb in 1887 in Merton, England) was a British playwright and screenwriter who also produced and directed motion pictures. George Arliss, who played the title role in Cardinal Richelieu (1935), thought his fellow British expatriate in Hollwood was able to write good dialogue quicker than any other writer he had worked with. His sole movie directing credit was Colonel Blood (1934), which he also wrote the screenplay for. Studio production chief Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century-Fox signed Lipscomb to a contract in the mid-1930s and brought him to Hollywood to adapt his play Clive of India (1935) as a starring vehicle for Ronald Colman. In Hollywood, he adapted Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (1935) (personally produced by Zanuck and starring Fredric March) and Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities (1935) produced by David O. Selznick and starring Colman). In 1938, Lipscomb again adapted his play Clive of India (1938) as one of the first TV movies in history, broadcast by the BBC. That same year, on Pygmalion (1938), he and Cecil Lewis wrote the scenario along with George Bernard Shaw, who also wrote the dialogue, adapting his own play. The three won the Academy Award in the Best Writing, Screenplay category. It was his only recognition from the award-givers until he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay for A Town Like Alice (1956) in 1957, the year before his death. W.P. Lipscomb was active as a screenwriter in the movies from 1928 to the time of his death. He died on July 25, 1958 in London.