James Poe

James Wilber Poe (October 4, 1921 – January 24, 1980) was an American film and television screenwriter. He is best known for his work on such films as Around the World in 80 Days (for which he jointly won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Summer and Smoke, Lilies of the Field, The Bedford Incident, and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?. He also worked as a writer on the radio shows Escape and Suspense, writing the scripts for some of their best episodes, most notably "Three Skeleton Key", "Blood Bath" and "The Present Tense", all of which starred Vincent Price. Poe was married to actress Barbara Steele from 1969 to 1978, having previously been married to the artist Barbara Poe Levee (née Reis) from 1943 to 1963.