---
name: "Jonathan Latimer"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jonathan-latimer"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "23 October 1906"
died: "23 June 1983"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:20:33.728001+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."
---

# Jonathan Latimer

Writer. Born 23 October 1906 in Chicago. Died 23 June 1983.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 23 October 1906, Chicago
- **Died:** 23 June 1983

## Biography

Jonathan Latimer (1906–1983) was an American crime writer, journalist and screenwriter. Born in Chicago, he worked as a crime reporter for the Chicago Herald Examiner and later the Chicago Tribune before turning to fiction in the mid-1930s. He graduated from Knox College in 1929 and served in the United States Navy during the Second World War.

Latimer wrote a series of hardboiled novels featuring private eye Bill Crane and later worked extensively as a Hollywood screenwriter. His screen credits include *The Glass Key* (1942), *They Won't Believe Me* (1947) and *The Big Clock* (1948). He contributed to television series such as *Perry Mason* (1957), for which he wrote dozens of episodes, and *Columbo* (1971), including the 1972 episode 'The Greenhouse Jungle'.

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

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Columbo* (1971), Fi1m 86, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/columbo.md)

## Also known for

- *The Big Clock* (1948), Screenplay
- *Perry Mason* (1957), Teleplay, Writer
- *The Glass Key* (1942), Screenplay
- *Topper Returns* (1941), Screenplay
- *They Won't Believe Me* (1947), Screenplay
- *Night Has a Thousand Eyes* (1948), Screenplay

---
© 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/jonathan-latimer