John Farrow

Farrow got married twice. First, he married Felice Lewin in 1924 and had a daughter with her the following year. The couple eventually got divorced in 1934.

In 1934, he got engaged to actress Maureen O'Sullivan. The couple married on 12 September, 1936 after he converted to Catholicism. He became an American citizen in July 1947.

With Maureen, he had seven children; four daughters, who grew up to become celebrated actresses, Mia (born 1945), Prudence (born 1948), Stephanie (born 1949), Tisa (born 1951); and three sons, Michael Damien (1939–1958), Patrick Joseph (1942–2009), and John Charles (born 1946).

Farrow was born on 10 February, 1904 in Sydney, Australia. He was the son of Lucy Villiers (née Savage), a dressmaker and Joseph Farrow, a tailor's trimmer. He lost his mother when he was only three years old.

His parents were of English descent. He was educated at Newtown Public School and Fort Street Boys' High School in Sydney. He became a sailor at an early age and travelled across the Pacific region, including Fiji and Hawaii.

When he reached the U.S., he enrolled at the Jesuits' St Ignatius College, University of San Francisco. However, he discontinued the course soon after.

Upon his arrival in Hollywood, it is believed that he made-up his educational credentials, claiming he had attended Newington College in Sydney, Australia, Winchester College in England and the US Naval Academy.

Farrow embarked on his career as a writer while working as a sailor. Later, a chance encounter with film-maker Robert J. Flaherty aroused his interest in screenwriting.

He found his way into Hollywood and in 1927, landed himself a job as a script consultant and technical adviser. By then, he was a fairly successful poet and short story writer. Very soon, he established himself as a distinguished screenwriter in Hollywood.

He worked for DeMille Productions, Paramount Pictures, and RKO Radio Pictures Inc. and wrote the scripts for films like ‘Ladies of the Mob’ (1928) and ‘The Wolf Song’ (1929).

In 1932, he wrote a novel, ‘Laughter Ends’ and visited England to work as a Writer (English version) and Assistant Director on G. W. Pabst's film ‘Don Quixote’ (1933).

On 27 January 1933, he was arrested in the U.S. on grounds of entering the country as an illegal immigrant and breaching his visa. He was threatened with deportation but was set free the following year.

Farrow’s greatest literary work was ‘Pageant of the Popes’ (1942) which contained a history of the papacy and won him the Catholic Literary Prize. His other significant literary works were – novels: ‘The Bad Ones’ (1930) and ‘Laughter Ends’ (1933), and biographies: ‘Damien the Leper’ (1937) and ‘Story of Sir Thomas More’ (1956).

He wrote the screenplay for ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, a 1956 Technicolor epic action adventure comedy film which won five Academy Awards including Best Screenplay and Best Picture.

His film ‘Wake Island’ (1942) tells the story of the U.S. military barracks on Wake Island and the attack by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbour. The film earned him the Academy Award nomination for Best Director.