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IMDbPro

John Steinbeck(1902-1968)

  • Writer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck was the third of four children and the only son born to John Ernst and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. His father was County Treasurer and his mother, a former schoolteacher. John graduated from Salinas High School in 1919 and attended classes at Stanford University, leaving in 1925 without a degree. He was variously employed as a sales clerk, farm laborer, ranch hand and factory worker. In 1925, he traveled by freight from Los Angeles to New York, where he was a construction worker. From 1926-1928, he was a caretaker in Lake Tahoe, CA. His first novel, "Cup of Gold," was published in 1929. During the 1930s, he produced most of his famous novels ("To a God Unknown," "Tortilla Flat," "In Dubious Battle," "Of Mice and Men," and his Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Grapes of Wrath"). In 1941, he moved with the singer who would become his second wife to New York City. They had two sons, Thom (b. 1944) and John IV (b. 1946). In 1948, his close friend Ed Ricketts died, he went through a divorce, he took a a tour of Russia, and he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His wrote the screenplay for Viva Zapata! (1952), and 17 of his works have been made into movies. He received three Academy Award nominations. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. US President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded him the United States Medal of Freedom in 1964, and he was commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp on what would have been his 75th birthday. His ashes lie in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas.
BornFebruary 27, 1902
DiedDecember 20, 1968(66)
BornFebruary 27, 1902
DiedDecember 20, 1968(66)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 3 Oscars
    • 1 win & 3 nominations total

Photos6

John Steinbeck in O. Henry's Full House (1952)
John Steinbeck in O. Henry's Full House (1952)
John Steinbeck in O. Henry's Full House (1952)
Bob Hope visiting with John Steinbeck during his U.S.O. Christmas tour in Southeast Asia
John Steinbeck in Biography (1979)

Known for:

Lifeboat (1944)
Lifeboat
7.6
  • Writer
  • 1944
Henry Fonda, John Carradine, Jane Darwell, Dorris Bowdon, Frank Darien, and Russell Simpson in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath
8.1
  • Writer
  • 1940
Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, and Jean Peters in Viva Zapata! (1952)
Viva Zapata!
7.3
  • Writer
  • 1952
East of Eden (1955)
East of Eden
7.8
  • Writer
  • 1955

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer

  • The Log from the Sea of Cortez
    • book
    • In Development
  • Breakfast (2021)
    Breakfast
    • based on the short story by
    • Short
    • 2021
  • A Scene from 'Of Mice and Men'
    • Based on the novel "Of Mice and Men"
    • Short
    • 2020
  • Mooso-the Mouse (2019)
    Mooso-the Mouse
    • Writer
    • 2019
  • I riassuntini (2018)
    I riassuntini
    • based on the novel by (2020)
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • Immortals (2017)
    Immortals
    • Excerpt of "The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights"
    • Short
    • 2017
  • Grapes
    • Based on the novel by
    • Short
    • 2017
  • Robert Duvall, James Franco, Selena Gomez, and Nat Wolff in In Dubious Battle (2016)
    In Dubious Battle
    • based on the book by
    • 2016
  • The Grapes of Wrath: We Shall Overcome
    • novel
    • 2015
  • Teatr Polskiego Radia (1925)
    Teatr Polskiego Radia
    • author
    • Podcast Series
    • 2015
  • James Franco and Chris O'Dowd in Of Mice and Men (2014)
    Of Mice and Men
    • novella
    • 2014
  • Of Mice and Men (2010)
    Of Mice and Men
    • novel
    • 2010
  • The Pearl (2004)
    The Pearl
    • novel "The Pearl"
    • 2004
  • Of Mice and Men (1992)
    Of Mice and Men
    • novel "Of Mice and Men"
    • 1992
  • American Playhouse
    American Playhouse
    • novel "The Grapes of Wrath"
    • TV Series
    • 1991
  • Ondu Muthina Kathe (1987)
    Ondu Muthina Kathe
    • story - The Pearl
    • 1987

Soundtrack

  • The Innocents (2020)
    The Innocents
    • writer: "Of Mice and Men"
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

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  • Height
    • 6′ (1.83 m)
  • Born
    • February 27, 1902
    • Salinas, California, USA
  • Died
    • December 20, 1968
    • New York City, New York, USA(heart disease)
  • Spouses
      Elaine AndersonDecember 28, 1950 - December 20, 1968 (his death)
  • Other works
    Book (w/Budd Schulberg): "The Four Seasons of Success".
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Biographical Movies
    • 5 Print Biographies
    • 6 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    According to his biographer Jay Parini and the New York Times, Steinbeck in the mid-1990s was the most popular deceased American writer, with 750,00 copies of his works selling annually. His popularity has not diminished over the years but has rather increased, particularly after Oprah Winfrey made his "East of Eden" the first selection of her revived book club in 2003. The book immediately became the #2 bestseller on amazon.com, and Steinbeck's publisher, Penguin Group USA, printed 600,000 new copies. Normally, the book sells fewer than 50,000 copies annually. It is a remarkable phenomenon considering that the book originally was a #1 best seller when it was published in 1952!.
  • Quotes
    A man on a horse is spiritually, as well as physically, bigger than a man on foot.
  • Salary
    • The Grapes of Wrath
      (1940)
      $75,000 (film rights)

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