William Hawks

For the American politician and businessman William T. Hawks, see Bill Hawks.

William Bellinger Hawks (January 29, 1901 – January 10, 1969) was an American film producer.

William Hawks
Wedding portrait of Hawks and Bessie Love, 1929
Born	William Bellinger Hawks (1901-01-29)January 29, 1901 Neenah, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	January 10, 1969(1969-01-10) (aged 67) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Education	Yale University[1]
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1930–1958
Spouses	Bessie Love ​ ​ (m. 1929; div. 1936)​ Virginia Walker ​ ​ (m. 1938; div. 1942)​ Frances Koshland Judge ​ ​ (m. 1951⁠–⁠1969)​
Relatives	Howard Hawks (brother) Kenneth Hawks (brother) Mary Astor (sister-in-law) Athole Shearer (sister-in-law)[2]

Career

Hawks attended Yale University,^[1][3] where he was a member of Scroll and Key^[4] and graduated in 1923.^[5][6][7] In his early career, Hawks was a stockbroker.^[8][9][10] By the early 1930s, Hawks was a Hollywood talent agent and, as such, brought novelist William Faulkner to his brother Howard Hawks' attention in 1932, becoming Faulkner's Hollywood agent.

He created United Producers Corporation in 1940^[11] with Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Irene Dunne, Anatole Litvak, and Lewis Milestone. They intended to produce ten films for RKO Pictures.^[3] My Life with Caroline was the first of the intended series, thus Hawks became a film producer.

Personal life

Hawks married actress Bessie Love at St. James' Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, California, on December 27, 1929.^[12] Mary Astor, Carmel Myers, and Norma Shearer were her bridesmaids, and Howard Hawks and MGM wunderkind Irving Thalberg ushered. Mary Astor was William's sister-in-law, married to brother Kenneth Hawks. Their reception was held at the Ambassador Hotel.^[13]

Hawks and Love then lived at the Havenhurst Apartments in Hollywood.^[14][15] They had a daughter, Patricia Hawks (February 19, 1932, Los Angeles), who had some bit parts in 1952 movies.^[2] They divorced in 1936.^[2]

He married actress Virginia Walker (July 31, 1916, Boston, Massachusetts – December 23, 1946, Los Angeles) in late June 1938 in Mexico.^[16] She had played Miss Alice Swallow in the 1938 comedy film Bringing Up Baby, her first film role.^[16] They divorced in 1942.^[17]

He was married to Boston socialite Frances Koshland Judge (1916–1993)^[18] on October 3, 1951, in West Los Angeles by Municipal Judge Louis Kaufmann.^[19]

Hawks died in Santa Monica, California, of a respiratory illness, on January 10, 1969.^[1]

Croquet

He was a member of the United States Croquet Association and was inducted posthumously into their Croquet Hall of Fame in 1981,^[20] as was brother Howard in 1980.^[21] He often played with actor George Sanders,^[22] who was also a posthumous 1980 inductee.^[23] Hawks most often played with a Jaques mallet,^[20] as did Sanders.^[23]

Filmography

• My Life with Caroline (1941)
• The Tall Men (1955)
• The Last Wagon (1956)
• The Law and Jake Wade (1958)
• Imitation General (1958)