William Dale Jennings

Birth : 1917-10-21, Amarillo, Texas

Death : 2000-05-11

History

William Dale Jennings was an American playwright and author, as well as an LGBT rights activist, later becoming one of the founders of the Mattachine Society. His work includes the 1971 western novel 'The Cowboys' (the basis for the John Wayne film of the same name a year later). He died on May 11, 2000 in La Mirada, California, USA.

Movies

Hope Along the Wind: The Story of Harry Hay

Self

Harry Hay was one of the founding fathers of the gay rights movement, and for more than 50 years was synonymous with the term "gay pride." Director Eric Slade's documentary about Hay looks at both his life and the movement he did so much to define. In 1948, Hay founded the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles; the goal of the organization was to establish a "Golden Brotherhood," one that sought to redefine homosexuality as a normal, healthy way of life. The problem, Hay famously maintained, was not homosexuality itself, but the way it was treated by society. Dramatizations, photographs, archival footage, and interviews with original Mattachine Society members are all incorporated to tell Hay's remarkable story, one whose legacy continues to be felt in the treatment of gays and lesbians in culture today.

The Cowboys

Novel

When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage; however, neither Andersen nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

The Cowboys

Screenplay

One Got Fat

Director

This bicycle-safety film shows children what can happen when bicycles are driven carelessly and recklessly.

One Got Fat

Writer

This bicycle-safety film shows children what can happen when bicycles are driven carelessly and recklessly.