Hawks, Howard (1896-1977), was an American motion-picture director known for his action films. Hawks also helped create a fast-paced style of comedy called screwball comedy, which ridiculed the eccentric or silly behavior of wealthy characters.
Two of Hawks’s finest films deal with World War I (1914-1918). One of them, The Dawn Patrol (1930), describes the adventures of fighter pilots in the war. The other, Sergeant York (1941), tells the true story of the American soldier Alvin C. York, who became one of the war’s most famous heroes. Hawks directed several Westerns, including Red River (1948) and Rio Bravo (1959). His violent melodrama Scarface (1932) became one of Hollywood’s most famous gangster movies. His film The Big Sleep (1946) ranks among the best private detective movies ever made. His other major dramatic films include Barbary Coast (1935), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and To Have and Have Not (1944). Hawks’s most successful comedies were Twentieth Century (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and His Girl Friday (1940).
Hawks was born on May 30, 1896, in Goshen, Indiana. He entered the film industry in 1918 as a writer and editor. After making a number of short films, he directed his first feature film, The Road to Glory (1926). Hawks directed about 40 films. He died on Dec. 26, 1977.
