David Goodis
David Goodis was an American novelist and screenwriter, born on March 2, 1917, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is known for his exploration of the darker sides of society through his writing, often reflecting personal struggles and existential themes. Goodis graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism and published his first novel, *Retreat from Oblivion*, in 1939. His most notable work, *Dark Passage*, published in 1946, was adapted into a classic film noir starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
After a brief period of success, including writing the script for *The Unfaithful* and achieving commercial acclaim with his novel *Nightfall*, Goodis's career began to decline. He became increasingly disillusioned with Hollywood, leading to a reclusive lifestyle marked by heavy drinking and unconventional behavior. Despite this, he continued to produce a series of bleak and poetic novels well into the 1960s, including *Black Friday* and *Down There*. Goodis passed away in obscurity on January 7, 1967, at the age of forty-nine. However, his works have been rediscovered and celebrated in France, where they have been translated and adapted into several acclaimed films, ensuring his legacy within the realm of noir literature.
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David Goodis
Author
- Born: March 2, 1917
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Died: January 7, 1967
Biography
The life of David Goodis seems almost like the poignant saga of a doomed character in one of his own stories. Born March 2, 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Goodis grew up with a disabled brother and seemed fascinated at an early age with the seedy, seamy side of society. Goodis attended Temple University and graduated with a degree in journalism in 1938, the year that he completed his first novel, Retreat from Oblivion (published the following year). During the war years he wrote stories for aviation, detective, and horror pulps under his own name or various pseudonyms. He also wrote scripts for several popular radio series, including Superman and House of Mystery.
After the war, Goodis published his best-known work: Dark Passage (1946) was made into the 1947 film noir classic of the same name that starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The success of the movie—which features an innocent man convicted of a crime he didn’t commit who escapes from prison and undergoes plastic surgery to avoid detection—inspired Warner Brothers to invite Goodis to go West and become a screenwriter.
The year 1947 was the pinnacle of Goodis’s career: With James Gunn he wrote the script for the successful movie The Unfaithful, and he published his million-seller novel, Nightfall. After that, Goodis’s career began a a long, slow descent. He soon tired of Hollywood’s glittering atmosphere. His own behavior—bizarre even by lax community standards—probably hastened his departure. Though he earned a typically generous salary, Goodis frequently flopped at others’ houses. He wore cast-off clothing. Between long periods of hermit-like existence, he would stalk the midnight streets and pass himself off as foreign royalty. He would also prowl jazz clubs in search of large black women who liked to dominate and hurt white men.
In 1950, Goodis returned to Philadelphia to live with his parents and his brother. During the remaining years of his life, he drank heavily but managed to produce a succession of uniquely bleak, dark, poetic novels. Paperback originals for Gold Medal and Lion Books included Black Friday (1954), Down There (1956), and Somebody’s Done For (1967). On the few occasions on which he went outdoors, Goodis headed straight for the city’s underbelly.
As he continued to write his tales of despair—involving tough, obsessive protagonists, often with sexual problems, who operated on the fringes and headed for inevitable falls—Goodis’s fame dwindled. He died in obscurity at age forty-nine on January 7, 1967. The French, however, who have often been more appreciative than Americans of nonmainstream American crime writers, have helped keep the memory of David Goodis alive by translating his novels and converting more than a half-dozen of his books to film. Goodis’s works have provided the source material for a number of critically acclaimed movies, including Truffault’s Shoot the Piano Player (1960), The Burglar (1971), and Sam Fuller’s Street of No Return (1989).