Knowing History and Writing for the “It Girl” Launched The Screenwriting Career of Ethel Doherty – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, February 2026

    Many of today’s screenwriters have come from the world of education so it could be said they are following the path laid out by Ethel Doherty in the 1920s and 30s. Born in Los Angeles in 1899 Doherty and the film industry grew up together. Her parents moved back and forth between Los Angeles and Arizona, so Doherty majored in history and graduated from Arizona State Normal School with plans to be a high school teacher. Back in Los Angeles she spent two summers at the University of Southern California (USC) and a third one at University of California. Her interest in the film industry meshed with Louise Long, a friend she met at USC, but like many aspiring screenwriters, even today, they needed to pay their bills so both women became high school teachers by day and collaborated on screenplays by night. Read Knowing History and Writing for the “It Girl” Launched The Screenwriting Career of Ethel Doherty Read about more women from early Hollywood   Related posts: Trusted to Write for the Greatest Stars of the Silent Screen: The Screenwriting Career of Ruth Cummings – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, January 2026