Howard Estabrook

Howard Estabrook, born Howard Bolles on July 11, 1884, in Detroit, Michigan, was an American actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer whose career spanned stage and screen across several decades. He died on July 16, 1978, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.

Estabrook launched his professional career in 1904 as a stage actor in New York, where he remained active on Broadway through 1915. His theatrical credits included Mrs. Avery, Miss Information, Search Me, The Things That Count, and Divorçons, among other productions. In addition to performing, he contributed to Broadway as a book writer.

His transition to film began in 1914 during the silent era, with appearances in several features including Four Feathers. After departing from the industry in 1916 to pursue work in the business world, he returned to film in 1921 and subsequently moved into producing, taking on executive roles at various studios before beginning to produce films in 1924.

Estabrook ultimately established himself as a screenwriter, contributing to a number of films that became recognized Hollywood classics. His work on Hell's Angels and Street of Chance, both released in 1930, earned him an Academy Award nomination for the latter. The following year, his adapted screenplay for Cimarron, the 1931 film starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne, won him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 1935, he collaborated with Hugh Walpole and Lenore J. Coffee to adapt Charles Dickens's novel David Copperfield for the screen, in a version featuring W. C. Fields and Lionel Barrymore. Estabrook continued writing, directing, and producing films for three decades before his death in 1978.