Luci Ward

Luci Ward (1907–1969) was an American screenwriter.^[1] She mostly worked on crime B movies and Western films.

Luci Ward
Born	Lucille Ward November 30, 1907 Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, US
Died	November 30, 1969 (aged 62) Los Angeles, California, US
Other names	Brooks Nevins
Occupation	Writer
Years active	1936–1967
Spouse	Jack Natteford

Biography

Ward was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana, the daughter of Edgar Ward and Lucille Pipes. She had a brother, Royce, and two step-siblings from her father's second marriage (her mother died when she was young).

Ward began her career as a secretary to First National executives^[2] and screenwriters (including Ben Markson)^[3] before becoming a script girl.^[4] Later, she got a chance to pen her own scripts. She also wrote articles for publications like Cosmopolitan, sometimes using the pen name Brooks Nevins.^[5]

She testified at a National Labor Relations Board hearing that she was hired as a stenographer at Warner Brothers for $25 a week and wasn't given a raise when she was promoted to screenwriter. Warner Brothers then hired her a personal secretary at $32.50 a week.^[6]

She was married to fellow screenwriter Jack Natteford and co-wrote several films with him.^[7]

Selected filmography

• Murder by an Aristocrat (1936)
• Mountain Justice (1937)
• Melody for Two (1937)
• Call the Mesquiteers (1938)
• Red River Range (1938)
• The Kansas Terrors (1939)
• The Arizona Kid (1939)
• Beyond the Sacramento (1940)
• Bad Men of the Hills (1942)
• The Fighting Buckaroo (1943)
• Law of the Northwest (1943)
• Riding West (1944)
• Raiders of Ghost City (1944)
• Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)
• Return of the Bad Men (1948)
• Rustlers (1949)