James Costigan (March 31, 1926 – December 19, 2007) was an American television actor and Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter. His writing credited included the Eleanor and Franklin and Love Among the Ruins television movies.Costigan was born on March 31, 1926, in Belvedere Gardens in East Los Angeles, where his parents owned and operated a hardware store. He first achieved some level of success in the 1950s, when he began being hired to write television anthology series, such as Studio One and Kraft Television Theatre. Costigan won his first Emmy for original teleplay in 1959 for Little Moon of Alban, a segment which appeared as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The segment, which starred Christopher Plummer and Julie Harris, was set during the Irish War of Independence.Costigan earned a second Emmy nomination in for his script adaptation of The Turn of the Screw in 1959. He did not win the award, but acclaimed actress Ingrid Bergman won an Emmy for her performance in The Turn of the Screw.Costigan increasingly began writing for Broadway theater, as the format of television began to change. His Broadway credits included Baby Want a Kiss, a 1964 comedy which starred Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.He returned to screenwriting for television in the early 1970s. His 1970s work included A War of Children, written in 1972, which was about a Catholic family and a Protestant family in Northern Ireland, whose long time friendship is threatened by sectarian violence.He won a second Emmy Award for Love Among the Ruins, a 1975 television movie set in Edwardian England, which starred Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier. His third Emmy win was for 1976's Eleanor and Franklin, a two-part, four-hour-long television drama focusing on the lives of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt.James Costigan died on December 19, 2007, at his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington, of heart failure and the age of 81.
March 31, 1926, East Los Angeles, California, United States
Died
December 19, 2007, Bainbridge Island, Washington, United States
Place Of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Profession
Writer, Actor, Sound Department
Awards
Peabody Award
Nominations
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Star Sign
Aries
#
Fact
1
Retired to Bainbridge Island, Washington and lived as a recluse; was found dead in his apartment by two concerned neighbors; it was estimated that he had been dead for about a week before he was found.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mr. North
1988
screenplay
King David
1985
screenplay / story based upon The Books of Samuel I and II Chronicles I and the Psalms of David
S.O.S. Titanic
1979
TV Movie written by
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
1977
TV Movie written by
Eleanor and Franklin
1976
TV Series written by - 2 episodes
F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood
1975
TV Movie
Love Among the Ruins
1975
TV Movie
In This House of Brede
1975
TV Movie written by
F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles'
1974
TV Movie written for television
A War of Children
1972
TV Movie written by
ITV Play of the Week
1967
TV Series script - 1 episode
Little Moon of Alban
1964
TV Movie play
Feuer lodern überall
1963
TV Movie play
Die sündigen Engel
1962
TV Movie play
The Catholic Hour
1961
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Encounter
1960
TV Series teleplay - 1 episode
Cradle Song
1960
TV Movie adaptation
A Doll's House
1959
TV Movie adaptation
Startime
1959
TV Series adaptation - 1 episode
Anne of Green Gables
1958
TV Movie
The DuPont Show of the Month
1958
TV Series adaptation - 1 episode
Little Moon of Alban
1958
TV Movie writer
On Borrowed Time
1957
TV Movie adaptation
The Lark
1957
TV Movie television adaptation
General Electric Theater
1956
TV Series adaptation - 2 episodes
On Camera
1956
TV Series 1 episode
Anne of Green Gables
1956
TV Movie
The United States Steel Hour
TV Series writer - 1 episode, 1955 written for television by - 1 episode, 1955
Ponds Theater
1953
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Studio One in Hollywood
1952
TV Series adaptation - 1 episode
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Grand Theft Auto
1977
Hiram (uncredited)
Mama
1954
TV Series
Mr. Corrigan
Campbell Summer Soundstage
1953
TV Series
The Web
1953
TV Series
Ponds Theater
1953
TV Series
Sound Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Teach Me Tonight
1997
electrician
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1979
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
Writers Guild of America, USA
1976
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy - Original Teleplay
Eleanor and Franklin (1976)
1975
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy - Original Teleplay
Love Among the Ruins (1975)
1959
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Best Writing of a Single Dramatic Program - One Hour or Longer
Little Moon of Alban (1958)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1977
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy - Original Teleplay
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977)