Kate Corbaley (born Kate Alaska Hinckley Hooper) was a pioneering American screenwriter and development executive active from the silent era through her death in the 1930s.[1]
Kate Corbaley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kate Alaska Hinckley Hooper September 1, 1878 Mazatlan, Mexico |
| Died | September 23, 1938 (aged 60) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Education | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Spouse | Charles Corbaley (div.) |
Kate was born at sea off the coast of Mazatlan, Mexico, to William Hooper and Mary Caldwell.[2] Her family was financially well-off, and she attended Stanford University, where she studied English.[2] After graduation, she taught at San Bernardino High School before marrying engineer Charles Corbaley. The pair had four daughters before divorcing 12 years later.[3]
After the split, she turned to writing. She won several contests in the 1910s, went to work at MGM as a story editor after working for Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew.[2][4] She wrote a string of films through the 1920s, and published a book on screenwriting called Selling Manuscripts in the Photoplay Market. She eventually became a consultant at the Palmer Photoplay Institute, and worked as a development executive, evaluating scripts and making them more commercial.[5] She died on September 23, 1938, in her Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles, home after a brief illness.[3]