Screenwriter, Editor. A former New York playwright, he went to Hollywood in 1918 and wrote intertitles for scores of silent films, mostly at MGM. His credits include "The Big Parade" (1925), "The Black Bird" (1926), "The Show" (1927), "London After Midnight" (1927), "The Crowd" (1928), and "The Wind" (1928). Farnham was also responsible for editing Erich von Stroheim's masterpiece "Greed" (1924) from its five-hour running time to two hours, against the director's wishes and to the dismay of generations of movie buffs. He allegedly did the job without reading the script, prompting Stroheim to remark, "The man who cut my film had nothing on his mind but a hat". In 1929 he became the first and only recipient of an Academy Award for Best Title Writing, for the films "Fair Co-Ed" (1928), "Laugh Clown, Laugh" (1928), and "Telling the World" (1928). Within a year, talkies had made the category (and Farnham's job) obsolete. When he succumbed to a heart attack at 46, Farnham also became the first Oscar-winner to die. He was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Screenwriter, Editor. A former New York playwright, he went to Hollywood in 1918 and wrote intertitles for scores of silent films, mostly at MGM. His credits include "The Big Parade" (1925), "The Black Bird" (1926), "The Show" (1927), "London After Midnight" (1927), "The Crowd" (1928), and "The Wind" (1928). Farnham was also responsible for editing Erich von Stroheim's masterpiece "Greed" (1924) from its five-hour running time to two hours, against the director's wishes and to the dismay of generations of movie buffs. He allegedly did the job without reading the script, prompting Stroheim to remark, "The man who cut my film had nothing on his mind but a hat". In 1929 he became the first and only recipient of an Academy Award for Best Title Writing, for the films "Fair Co-Ed" (1928), "Laugh Clown, Laugh" (1928), and "Telling the World" (1928). Within a year, talkies had made the category (and Farnham's job) obsolete. When he succumbed to a heart attack at 46, Farnham also became the first Oscar-winner to die. He was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
Advertisement
See more Farnham memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
