Biography:After a busy career as a radio writer in the decade after World War II, John Michael Hayes was wooed by Hollywood and, after a trio of minor films ("Red Ball Express", "Thunder Bay" and "Torch Song"), was signed by Alfred Hitchcock to script the latter's new film, "Rear Window", a loose adaptation of a Cornell Woolrich story. This changed Hayes's life - "Rear Window" (1954) was hailed as a masterpiece and made a fortune at the box-office and, as a result, he became the first writer ever to work with Hitchcock on four consecutive films. The others were "The Trouble With Harry", "To Catch A Thief" and the remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much"; all became cinema classics. The last one, however, led to quarrels between the two men and they never worked together again. For the next ten years, Hayes worked busily (and for much larger fees) on several less distinguished films - "Peyton Place", "Butterfield 8", "The Carpetbaggers" and "Harlow" among them. After the western epic "NevadaAfter a busy career as a radio writer in the decade after World War II, John Michael Hayes was wooed by Hollywood and, after a trio of minor films ("Red Ball Express", "Thunder Bay" and "Torch Song"), was signed by Alfred Hitchcock to script the latter's new film, "Rear Window", a loose adaptation of a Cornell Woolrich story. This changed Hayes's life - "Rear Window" (1954) was hailed as a masterpiece and made a fortune at the box-office and, as a result, he became the first writer ever to work with Hitchcock on four consecutive films. The others were "The Trouble With Harry", "To Catch A Thief" and the remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much"; all became cinema classics. The last one, however, led to quarrels between the two men and they never worked together again. For the next ten years, Hayes worked busily (and for much larger fees) on several less distinguished films - "Peyton Place", "Butterfield 8", "The Carpetbaggers" and "Harlow" among them. After the western epic "Nevada Smith" in 1966, Hayes had the misfortune to write no fewer than eleven screenplays that were never filmed. He had no more credits in the cinema until 1994. He did have a few television credits, however, including an attempt to turn "Nevada Smith" into a TV series (only a 1975 pilot was made) and the popular TV movie "Pancho Barnes", about a real-life aviatrix. He was clinically blind for the last decade of his life.…Expand
