Formal Ceremonies Scheduled for Nov. 10
During Afternoon Library Reception
NUTLEY, N.J. -- The Nutley Hall of Fame recently announced the names of 10 persons who will be inducted in a Sunday afternoon ceremony Nov. 20 at the Public Library.
The inductees include four doctors, two Pulitzer Prize winners, an artist and two well-known sports personalities.
The selections were made by a panel of judges who reviewed hundreds of pages of material gathered over the past eight months.
The selections were limited to persons “who through significant achievement on a statewide, national, or international level, have distinguished themselves and made their association with Nutley a matter of pride for the community.”
Additionally, candidates must have been born in Nutley, or be a graduate of Nutley High School, or a resident of Nutley for a minimum of 10 years.
Inductees included:
Francis Goodrich (1890-1984) was born in Belleville, moved to Nutley at the age of two and grew up in the large family home at 187 Nutley Avenue.
It was a home where she would later marry Albert Hackett.
The couple wrote dozens of plays and scripts for Hollywood films.
The first play they competed together, “Up Pops the Devil,” was the first staged production of the Nutley Little Theatre on Nov. 23, 1934.
Francis and Albert became well know for their screenplays on the three “Thin Man” films staring Myrna Loy and William Powell, and on Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
But Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett’s crowning achievement came as playwrights on ”The Diary of Anne Frank” for which they won the Pulitzer Prize.
Another Pulizter Prize winner from town:
A graduate of Nutley High School, Paul Goldberger headed for Yale University, undecided whether he wanted to become an architect or continue with his very early success as a journalist.
While a freshman at Yale, his first piece submitted to the New York Times was published as a cover story in its Sunday magazine.
Three years later with a Yale degree in hand, Paul became the architecture critic for The Times.
In 1990 he was named cultural news editor and in 1994 he became the newspaper’s chief cultural correspondent.
Paul Goldberger won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his architecture criticism, the highest award in journalism.
Read the full press release
Book Review The Real Nick and Nora - Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Writers of Stage and Screen Classics
Order THE REAL NICK And NORA
Notable Nutley, N.J. Writers
