- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJoseph Arnold Hayes
- Joseph Hayes was a well-known playwright and author specializing in crime fiction. His best known work, "The Desperate Hours" was first a novel, than a successful Broadway play (taking the 1955 Tony for Best Play), and then a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. Hayes had a long career on Broadway and in the movies; he often collaborated with his wife, Marrijane Hayes, on a number of screenplays and scripts.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jane Margaret Laight
- SpouseMarrijane Hayes(February 5, 1938 - September 21, 1991) (her death, 3 children)
- Awarded a Tony in 1955 for his play, Desperate Hours (1990).
- Graduate of Indiana University.
- He wrote "The Desperate Hours" as a best-selling novel, a hit play and a successful movie, all within the space of two years. He always claimed that his only motivation for this burst of activity was the need for money. He was never able to equal this success. Over thirty years later, he got a writing credit on the 1990 remake directed by Michael Cimino, but it seems likely that his work was entirely rewritten by others. His plot is extensively changed; this version was a flop.
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