Robert Getchell

Robert Getchell
Born(1936-12-06)December 6, 1936[1]
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
DiedOctober 21, 2017(2017-10-21) (aged 80)
Monterey, California, United States
OccupationScreenwriter

Robert Getchell (December 6, 1936 – October 21, 2017) was an American screenwriter. Getchell wrote the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore[2] and created the sitcom based on that film, Alice. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplays for both Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the subsequent Bound for Glory.

Getchell was also the screenwriter for the 1981 docudrama film Mommie Dearest, based on Christina Crawford's nightmarish childhood with her violent, manipulative, alcoholic adoptive mother, the actress Joan Crawford. The film was intended to be a serious drama about child abuse, but Getchell's unusual script won the Golden Raspberry award that year for worst screenplay, one of the factors that led Mommie Dearest to be remembered as a cult film.

He died on October 21, 2017, aged 80.[3]

  1. ^ Writers Guild of America West [@WGAWest] (31 October 2017). "RIP WGAW member / screenwriter / "Alice" creator Robert Getchell (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) 12/5/36-10/21/17" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 April 2019 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Canby, Vincent (January 30, 1975). "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Movie Review". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  3. ^ Barnes, Mike (6 November 2017). "Robert Getchell, 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' Screenwriter, Dies at 81". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 November 2017.