Essays

Elizabeth R. Carpenter

Hernández Ordeig, María

A native of Hoboken, New Jersey, Emily S. McCain was already forty years old when she started publishing short stories in newspapers and magazines under the pen name Elizabeth R. Carpenter. Shortly afterward, she ventured into the field of screenwriting, where she established herself as a successful independent freelancer. By the mid-1910s, “Elizabeth R. Carpenter” was a prominent author at the peak of her career, and a celebrated figure in the burgeoning film industry. Sometimes also credited as E. R. Carpenter, she sold scenarios to major studios like Vitagraph, Edison, Kalem, and Lubin, and left behind a trail of praise in the early film press. But, despite her literary achievements, McCain kept her real identity well concealed, to the point that specialized film trade outlets, as well as film historians in the following decades, never referred to Carpenter by any other name or seemed aware that this was a pseudonym. Carpenter disappeared suddenly from the industry and press around 1919, leaving behind few clues about her life and identity. Putting a name to the person behind Carpenter has been possible only after the extensive research undertaken for this profile, which represents the first effort to shed light on the screenwriter’s real identity.

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More About This Work

Academic Units
Film
Series
Women Film Pioneers Project
Published Here
September 24, 2024