CONNOLLY, MYLES

Novelist, motion picture script writer; b. Boston, Mass., Oct. 7, 1897; d. Santa Monica, Calif., July 15, 1964. He was the son of Bartholomew and Anne (Mc-Manus) Connolly and married Agnes Bevington in 1929. They had three sons and two daughters. He was educated at Boston Latin School (1910–14) and Boston College (1914–18). In World War I he served in the U.S. Navy, and thereafter turned to journalism and wrote for the Boston Post. For many years he was a frequent contributor of verse and short stories to national magazines; in 1928 he served on the first board of directors of the Catholic Book Club. From 1928 to 1960, he was responsible for the production and writing of 40 motion pictures. He is best known, however, for Mr. Blue (1928), a novel that brought fame to Connolly and became required reading in many schools.

In the world of Hollywood, Connolly stood properly apart as a man of taste and distinction, a brilliant conversationalist who had his own values and could be loyal to them in a forceful, yet charming, manner. His first love was the printed word and he found a wide public for it. In addition to Mr. Blue, which was published also in Portuguese, French, and Italian, his works include The Bump on Brannigan's Head (1950, also published in Dutch and German); Dan England and the Noonday Devil (1951); The Reason for Ann (1953); and Three Who Ventured (1958). In Mr. Blue can be found echoes of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas More. It is filled with a sense of Christian joy, a hope and a certainty of things to come. Or, as Mr. Blue himself says, "there is a glorious Somewhere, and it is far nearer to us than the stars."

[e. lavery]