---
name: "Hartzell Spence"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/hartzell-spence"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "15 February 1908"
died: "9 May 2001"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T00:34:00.671986+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Hartzell Spence

Writer. Born 15 February 1908 in Clarion, Iowa, United States. Died 9 May 2001.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 15 February 1908, Clarion, Iowa, United States
- **Died:** 9 May 2001
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0817771/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/930496

## Biography

Hartzell Spence was an American writer. Born in Clarion, Iowa, he graduated from the University of Iowa in 1930 with a degree in journalism. He worked as a reporter and bureau manager for United Press before becoming a freelance writer.

Spence wrote the memoir *One Foot in Heaven* (1940), a bestseller and Book of the Month Club selection based on his father’s life as a Methodist minister. It was adapted into the 1941 Warner Bros. film of the same name. During the Second World War he served as founding editor of *Yank, the Army Weekly* and is credited with coining the term “pinup”. He later published further books including the sequel *Get Thee Behind Me* (1942) and historical novels, and contributed articles to magazines such as the *Saturday Evening Post*, *Look* and *Reader’s Digest*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, chicagotribune.com, courant.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *One Foot in Heaven* (1941), Fi1m 74, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/one-foot-in-heaven.md)

## Complete filmography (1)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *One Foot in Heaven* (1941), Writer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/one-foot-in-heaven.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/hartzell-spence