Harriete Underhill
- Writer
American film critic who dabbled in screenwriting. A native of Troy,
New York, she grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. She married at 16 and
went on the stage, appearing on Broadway and on tour in productions
ranging from Shakespeare to the "Floradora Sextette." Her career
faltered, as did her marriage and a subsequent one, and she entered the
newspaper business with the help of her father, Lorenzo Underhill, who
owned the "New York Sportsman." She was hired by the "New York Tribune"
in 1908 and wrote dramatic criticism, eventually becoming the
now-rechristened "Herald-Tribune"'s film reviewer. An automobile
accident in 1919 nearly ended her career and completely undermined her
health permanently. She was forced to leave her position for some
months while recuperating. She began writing film scenarios in the
mid-Twenties, although films she was actually credited on are scant.
She succumbed to her longtime health problems, dying in her apartment
at the Whitby Hotel in New York City on May 18, 1928.