George Seaton

George Seaton’s story is a wild ride, honestly. The guy started off as George Stenius, a kid from Detroit with Swedish roots, and instead of going down the Yale path (which his dad probably lost sleep over), he jumped into acting with Jessie Bonstelle’s crew for a measly fifteen bucks a week. Changed his last name to “Seaton” too, just because people apparently couldn’t handle “Stenius.” And get this: on Detroit radio, he was the OG Lone Ranger voice—the “Hi-yo, Silver!” catchphrase? All him. Couldn’t whistle, so he just went for it. Then there’s this twist: he sends a play to MGM, and legendary Irving Thalberg barely blinks at the play itself but sees something in Seaton. Suddenly, George is making fifty bucks a week as a writer, shadowing heavyweights like Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur—except, well, MGM ditches those guys before Seaton even hits Hollywood. Classic. The next few years, he’s hustling in the background—gag writer, idea man, not getting much credit. But then he lands a spot writing for The Marx Brothers’ “A Night at the Opera,” which pretty much changes everything. Groucho himself wants Seaton back for “A Day at the Races.” Broadway? Not so lucky—his plays bombed, but he kept swinging. Eventually, he teams up with producer William Perlberg, and when Perlberg jumps to 20th Century-Fox, Seaton follows. He nails the screenplay for “The Song of Bernadette,” scores an Oscar nod, and rolls into directing. “Miracle on 34th Street”? Yeah, that’s his, and it cleaned house at the Oscars. Not every flick was a hit, but Seaton kept moving, jumping studios, co-producing big stuff, and just never slowing down.