---
name: "Lenore J. Coffee"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lenore-j-coffee"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "13 July 1896"
died: "2 July 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-19T23:49:07.060416+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."
---

# Lenore J. Coffee

Writer. Born 13 July 1896 in San Francisco, California, USA. Died 2 July 1984.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 13 July 1896, San Francisco, California, USA
- **Died:** 2 July 1984
- **Also known as:** Lenore Coffee
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Coffee, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1818206, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0168829/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/84237

## Biography

Lenore J. Coffee (13 July 1896 – 2 July 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright and novelist. Educated at Dominican College in San Rafael, California, she entered the film industry in 1919 after winning a screenplay contest for actress Clara Kimball Young, which led to her first credit on *The Better Wife*.

She received two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay: for *Street of Chance* (1930), shared with Howard Estabrook, and for *Four Daughters* (1938), shared with Julius J. Epstein. Coffee worked under contract at MGM from 1929 to 1936 and later at Warner Bros., where she contributed to films including *The Great Lie* (1941), *Old Acquaintance* (1943), *Sudden Fear* (1952) and *Young at Heart* (1954). She was married to writer and director William J. Cowen.

Coffee also wrote the play *Family Portrait* (1939) and novels including *Another Time, Another Place* (1956). She published her memoirs, *Storyline: Reflections of a Hollywood Screenwriter*, in 1973.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, wfpp.columbia.edu.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Four Daughters* (1938), Fi1m 75, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/four-daughters-1938.md)

## Complete filmography (66)

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

- *ITV Playhouse* (1967), series, Writer
- *Cash McCall* (1960), Screenplay
- *Another Time, Another Place* (1958), Novel
- *Footsteps in the Fog* (1955), Screenplay
- *The End of the Affair* (1955), Screenplay
- *Young at Heart* (1954), Screenplay
- *Sudden Fear* (1952), Screenplay
- *Lightning Strikes Twice* (1951), Screenplay
- *Beyond the Forest* (1949), Screenplay
- *The Guilt of Janet Ames* (1947), Story
- *Tomorrow Is Forever* (1946), Screenplay
- *Till We Meet Again* (1944), Screenplay
- *Marriage Is a Private Affair* (1944), Screenplay
- *Old Acquaintance* (1943), Screenplay
- *The Gay Sisters* (1942), Screenplay
- *The Great Lie* (1941), Screenplay
- *The Way of All Flesh* (1940), Screenplay
- *My Son, My Son!* (1940), Screenplay
- *Stronger Than Desire* (1939), as Additional Writing
- *Good Girls Go to Paris* (1939), Story
- *Four Daughters* (1938), Screenplay — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/four-daughters-1938.md)
- *White Banners* (1938), Screenplay
- *Suzy* (1936), Screenplay
- *Age of Indiscretion* (1935), Original Story
- *Vanessa: Her Love Story* (1935), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Evelyn Prentice* (1934), Screenplay
- *Such Women Are Dangerous* (1934), Additional Dialogue
- *All Men Are Enemies* (1934), Screenplay
- *Four Frightened People* (1934), Screenplay
- *Torch Singer* (1933), Screenplay
- *Downstairs* (1932), Screenplay
- *Night Court* (1932), Writer
- *Arsène Lupin* (1932), Dialogue
- *Possessed* (1931), Screenplay
- *Honor of the Family* (1931), Writer
- *The Squaw Man* (1931), Screenplay
- *Mothers Cry* (1930), Adaptation
- *Street of Chance* (1930), Writer
- *The Bishop Murder Case* (1929), Writer
- *Desert Nights* (1929), Writer
- *Chicago* (1927), Screenplay
- *The Angel of Broadway* (1927), Screenplay
- *Lonesome Ladies* (1927), Story
- *The Night of Love* (1927), Screenplay
- *For Alimony Only* (1926), Writer
- *The Volga Boatman* (1926), Screenplay
- *East Lynne* (1925), Writer
- *Hell's Highroad* (1925), Writer
- *The Swan* (1925), Writer
- *The Rose of Paris* (1924), Writer
- *Fools Highway* (1924), Writer
- *Thundering Dawn* (1923), Screenplay, Story
- *Daytime Wives* (1923), Story
- *The Age of Desire* (1923), Writer
- *Wandering Daughters* (1923), Writer
- *Temptation* (1923), Story
- *The Dangerous Age* (1923), Writer
- *Sherlock Brown* (1922), Adaptation
- *The Face Between* (1922), Writer
- *The Right That Failed* (1922), Screenplay
- *Alias Ladyfingers* (1921), Adaptation
- *Hush* (1921), Writer
- *For the Soul of Rafael* (1920), Writer
- *The Fighting Shepherdess* (1920), Writer
- *The Forbidden Woman* (1920), Story
- *The Better Wife* (1919), Screenplay, Story

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1939: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Four Daughters*

*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/lenore-j-coffee