John Paxton, Prize-Winning Screenwriter, Dies at 73
John Paxton, an award-winning screenwriter of such memorable films as “Murder My Sweet,” “Crossfire,” “On the Beach” and “Kotch,” died Saturday while vacationing in Malibu.
Paxton, 73, came to Hollywood after a lengthy career in New York, where he had been a publicist and editor of a theatrical magazine.
When an old friend, Adrian Scott, decided to produce the Raymond Chandler best-seller “Farewell My Lovely” in 1944, he hired Paxton for the screen treatment. It was released as “Murder My Sweet” and starred Dick Powell.
Other Paxton credits include “Crack Up,” “So Well Remembered,” “Fourteen Hours,” “Interpol” and “How to Murder a Rich Uncle.” He won a Writer’s Guild Award for “Kotch,” his last film, in 1971.
A service for Paxton, who died of the complications of emphysema, will be held at 2:30 p.m. today at Westwood Memorial Park. His wife, Sarah Jane, asks that contributions be made to the American Heart Assn. in lieu of flowers.
They had no children.
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