---
name: "Joel Sayre"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joel-sayre"
fi1m_id: "joel-sayre"
imdb_id: "nm0768540"
tmdb_id: 92909
wikidata_id: "Q6213930"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "13 December 1900"
died: "9 September 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T02:57:11.598406+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."
---

# Joel Sayre

## Identity

Joel Sayre

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joel-sayre
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joel-sayre
- **IMDb ID:** nm0768540
- **TMDB ID:** 92909
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6213930
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Sayre, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6213930, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/92909

Writer. Born 13 December 1900 in Marion. Died 9 September 1979.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 13 December 1900, Marion
- **Died:** 9 September 1979
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Sayre, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6213930, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/92909

## Biography

Joel Sayre was an American reporter, novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his screenplay for the 1939 adventure film *Gunga Din*, co-written with Fred Guiol from a story by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.

Sayre began his career as a crime reporter in New York during Prohibition. He later contributed to *The New Yorker* and wrote satirical novels including *Rackety Rax* (1932). In the mid-1930s he moved to Hollywood, where his screen credits included *Annie Oakley* (1935) and *The Road to Glory* (1936), the latter co-written with William Faulkner. His short story "The Man on the Ledge" was adapted as the 1951 film *Fourteen Hours*.

During the Second World War Sayre served as a foreign correspondent for *The New Yorker*. He died on 9 September 1979 in Taftsville, Vermont.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Gunga Din* (1939), Fi1m 68, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/gunga-din.md)

## Complete filmography (12)

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

- *Man on the Ledge* (1955), Story
- *Fourteen Hours* (1951), Story
- *Gunga Din* (1939), Screenplay — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/gunga-din.md)
- *The Toast of New York* (1937), Screenplay
- *Meet the Missus* (1937), Screenplay
- *The Road to Glory* (1936), Screenplay
- *Annie Oakley* (1935), Screenplay
- *His Family Tree* (1935), Screenplay
- *The Payoff* (1935), Screenplay
- *The Hell Cat* (1934), Additional Dialogue
- *Come On, Marines!* (1934), Writer
- *Rackety Rax* (1932), Story

---
© 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/joel-sayre