Dalton Trumbo [1905 - 1976]

Individual, trumbo_dalton

About

Born in Montrose, CO, Dalton Trumbo spent most of his childhood in Grand Junction, living on Chipeta Avenue before moving to Gunnison Avenue. While attending Grand Junction High School,[/place] he was involved in student government, debate, drama, and was a lineman football player during his senior year. Additionally, he worked for the Daily Sentinel newspaper as a reporter.
After graduating in 1924, Trumbo attended the University of Colorado in Boulder. He wrote for the student and local newspaper. He attended for two years before following his mother and sister to Southern California.

Dalton Trumbo was a highly successful author and screenwriter. He wrote 11 books and contributed to more than 20 movies. He wrote the screenplay for Roman Holiday (1953), Spartacus (1960), among other films and won two Academy Awards. His first novel was Eclipse which was set in "Shale City," a fictional town inspired by Grand Junction. Between 1935 and 1979, he wrote seven novels.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) targeted Hollywood screenwriters for inserting "pro-Communist" messages. When called to testify, Trumbo refused to cooperate, was cited for contempt, and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Trumbo was thereby "blacklisted" from the movie industry, but he continued to write screenplays, using pseudonyms or through friends. In the mid-1950's, Trumbo and writer Bruce Cook met for a series of interviews. Cook wrote a biography and it was published in 1977.

In 2005, the city of Grand Junction celebrated Trumbo's 100th birthday and on October 13, 2007, a life-sized sculpture of Trumbo writing in a bathtub was unveiled in front of the Avalon Theater on Main Street. The sculpture was completed by J. Michael Wilson, and the fundraising was completed by the Dalton Gang: a group of individuals dedicated to remembering Trumbo.

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