---
name: "Howard Estabrook"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/howard-estabrook"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "11 July 1884"
died: "16 July 1978"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T00:55:38.994843+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."
---

# Howard Estabrook

Writer. Born 11 July 1884 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Died 16 July 1978.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 11 July 1884, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- **Died:** 16 July 1978
- **Active:** 1935–1943
- **Also known as:** Howard Esterbrook, Howard Bolles
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 81 (1), 1940s 66 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Estabrook, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1631803, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0261455/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/88579

## Biography

Howard Estabrook, born Howard Bolles on 11 July 1884 in Detroit, Michigan, was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He began his career as a stage actor in New York in 1904 and made his film debut in 1914. After leaving the industry briefly, he returned in 1921, took executive positions with studios, began producing films in 1924 and soon concentrated on screenwriting.

Estabrook wrote or adapted screenplays for *Hell's Angels* (1930), *Street of Chance* (1930, Academy Award nomination), *Cimarron* (1931, Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), *A Bill of Divorcement* (1932) and *David Copperfield* (1935, with Hugh Walpole and Lenore J. Coffee). He also directed and produced films, served on the Academy Board of Governors, and later wrote for television. Estabrook died on 16 July 1978 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com, imdb.com, oac.cdlib.org, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Human Comedy* (1943), Fi1m 66, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-human-comedy.md)
- *David Copperfield* (1935), Fi1m 81, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/david-copperfield.md)

## Complete filmography (55)

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

- *The Big Fisherman* (1959), Writer
- *Cattle Queen of Montana* (1954), Screenplay
- *Passion* (1954), Adaptation
- *Lone Star* (1952), Story
- *The Girl from Manhattan* (1948), Writer
- *The Virginian* (1946), Adaptation, Producer
- *Dakota* (1945), Adaptation
- *Heavenly Days* (1944), Director, Screenplay, Story
- *The Bridge of San Luis Rey* (1944), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Human Comedy* (1943), Screenplay — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/the-human-comedy.md)
- *The Corsican Brothers* (1942), Adaptation
- *International Lady* (1941), Screenplay
- *New Wine* (1941), Writer
- *The Cowboy and the Lady* (1938), as Additional Writing
- *Wells Fargo* (1937), Associate Producer
- *Maid of Salem* (1937), Writer, Producer
- *Way Down East* (1935), Screenplay
- *David Copperfield* (1935), Screenplay — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/david-copperfield.md)
- *The Bowery* (1933), Screenplay
- *The Masquerader* (1933), Screenplay
- *The Devil's in Love* (1933), Writer
- *Sweepings* (1933), Screenplay
- *The Conquerors* (1932), Story
- *Make Up* (1932), Screenplay
- *A Bill of Divorcement* (1932), Screenplay
- *Roar of the Dragon* (1932), Screenplay
- *Are These Our Children?* (1931), Director, Adaptation
- *The Woman Between* (1931), Writer
- *Woman Hungry* (1931), Screenplay
- *Kismet* (1931), Screenplay
- *Cimarron* (1931), Writer
- *Hell's Angels* (1930), Adaptation
- *Kismet* (1930), Adaptation, Dialogue
- *The Bad Man* (1930), Writer
- *Lopez, le bandit* (1930), Writer
- *Double Cross Roads* (1930), Writer
- *Slightly Scarlet* (1930), Screenplay
- *Street of Chance* (1930), Writer
- *Behind the Make-Up* (1930), Writer
- *The Virginian* (1929), Screenplay
- *She Goes to War* (1929), Writer
- *The Four Feathers* (1929), Screenplay
- *The Shopworn Angel* (1928), Writer
- *Varsity* (1928), Writer
- *Forgotten Faces* (1928), Writer
- *The Port of Missing Girls* (1928), Screenplay
- *Dressed to Kill* (1928), Writer
- *North Star* (1925), Producer
- *The Wild Girl* (1917), Director
- *Giving Becky a Chance* (1917), Director
- *The Highway of Hope* (1917), Director
- *The Mysteries of Myra* (1916), as Dr. Payson Alden
- *Four Feathers* (1915), as Captain Harry Faversham
- *The Butterfly* (1915), as John Butler
- *Officer 666* (1914), as Travers Gladwin

## Gallery

- ![Howard Estabrook, 1884-1978](https://film.one/media/person/1228025/gallery-e7960b875719.jpg) Howard Estabrook, 1884-1978 — Unknown authorUnknown author/ Archival by La Presse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Howard_Estabrook%2C_1884-1978.jpg/1280px-Howard_Estabrook%2C_1884-1978.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Howard Estabrook, international star (1916)](https://film.one/media/person/1228025/gallery-83476aa51d52.jpg) Howard Estabrook, international star (1916) — International Film Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Howard_estabrook_film_flashes_1916.jpg/1280px-Howard_estabrook_film_flashes_1916.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Psychical researcher Hereward Carrington in the American mystery film serial The Mysteries of Myra (1916). The film serial starred Jean Sothern as Myra. Illustr](https://film.one/media/person/1228025/gallery-41fefe884dbe.jpg) Psychical researcher Hereward Carrington in the American mystery film serial The Mysteries of Myra (1916). The film serial starred Jean Sothern as Myra. Illustr — International Film Service / Pathé Exchange, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/The_Mysteries_of_Myra.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Illustration of an article in The Moving Picture World regarding the American mystery film serial The Mysteries of Myra (1916) showing a new stunt based on the ](https://film.one/media/person/1228025/gallery-889495612686.jpg) Illustration of an article in The Moving Picture World regarding the American mystery film serial The Mysteries of Myra (1916) showing a new stunt based on the  — International Film Service / Pathé Exchange, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Cooper_Hewitt_lights_in_%27The_Mysteries_of_Myra%27.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Howard Estabrook](https://film.one/media/person/1228025/gallery-4bd80729240f.jpg) Howard Estabrook — Image via TMDB
- ![Howard Estabrook](https://film.one/media/person/1228025/gallery-452148baa36b.jpg) Howard Estabrook — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 1932: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Cimarron*
- 1931: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *Cimarron*
- 1930: Best Writing (nominated), for *Street of Chance*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/howard-estabrook