Jean Rouverol

Jean Rouverol was born on July 8, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Both Jean and Hugo, responding to the economic collapse of the 1930s, joined the Communist Party in 1943. With the rise of McCarthyism in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hugo Butler was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Faced with a choice of naming names to HUAC or doing jail time like the "Hollywood Ten," the family fled to Mexico with their first four children (two additional children were born in Mexico). In Mexico, the couple had to endure FBI surveillance and were forced to write under pseudonyms, but they managed to eke out a living during the blacklist era doing what they loved, writing for feature film. During these years, they wrote "Autumn Leaves," the 1956 Joan Crawford drama, and "Face in the Rain." While in Mexico, Jean continued to write for publication in U.S. magazines, and also completed a book on Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1960, the family moved to Rome for two years while Hugo worked on film scripts, including Joseph Losey's "Eva." They returned to Mexico in 1962 and finally moved back to the US permanently in 1964. In Hollywood after Hugo's death (1968), Jean began writing for television soap operas to support herself and the three children remaining at home. Jean wrote for "Search for Tomorrow" (CBS:1951-1982; NBC:1982-1986), "As the World Turns" (CBS:1956-2010), and "Guiding Light" (CBS:1952-2009), until her retirement in 1976. Jean went on to publish "Writing for Soaps" (1964) and taught courses on soap opera script writing at USC. In this same period, Jean also wrote three young adult biographies and a gothic novel.

She was a writer and actress, known for It's a Gift (1934), Bar 20 Rides Again (1935) and Guiding Light (1952). She was married to Hugo Butler.

She and husband Hugo Butler were blacklisted in the 1950s and went to Mexico. They did not return to the United States on a permanent basis for thirteen years.

A founding member of the Writers Guild of America, Jean served four terms on the board of the Health and Pension plan of the Producer-Writers Guild of America, and in 1987 received the Guild's Morgan Cox Award. Jean was also for many years a member of the documentary nominating committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the year 2000 at the age of eighty-two she published "Refugees from Hollywood," a memoir of the Blacklist and her family's life in Mexico. In 2005, at age 87, Jean fell in love with a colleague from her days in radio, Cliff Carpenter. They shared a rich history of acting and progressive politics and spent a decade together living in Pawling, New York, participating in "Old Time Radio" conventions, spending time in Mexico, and occasionally alarming Jean's children with their thirst for adventure. Cliff predeceased Jean in 2014. Jean spent the last year of her life in the loving home of caregiver Crystal Neithardt and her family. Crystal was by her side when Jean passed gently away.

The author of several books, in 2001 she published "Refugees from Hollwood: A Journal of the Blacklist Years."

Jean Rouverol (Butler) died on March 24, 2017 in Wingate, NY, at the age of 100. She was the daughter of playwright Aurarinia Ellerbeck and Joseph Rouverol. Her mother Aurania Rouverol, authored and originated the - "Andy Hardy" series, featuring a young Mickey Rooney for MGM films, guided her daughter into an acting performance career at a very early age. As a film actress, Jean appeared, at age 18, as W.C. Fields' daughter in "It's A Gift" (1934); in 1935, at age 19, Jean appeared in "Private Worlds" with Claudette Colbert, and "Stage Door" (1937) with Katharine Hepburn. Jean played opposite Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy in, respectively, "Western Jamboree" (1938) and "Bar 20 Rides Again (1935). She also played the role of Betty Carter on "One Man's Family," the long running radio broadcast soap opera. In 1940 Jean married film screenwriter Hugo Butler, with whom she had six children; son Michael, daughters Susan, Mary, Emily Butler McCoy, Deborah Butler Spiegelman and Becky Butler; survived by eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. In addition to developing her own writing career, Jean collaborated frequently with Hugo until his untimely death in 1968. Jean and Hugo co-wrote the screenplays for, among others, Paul Henreid's "So Young So Bad" (1950), Irvin Kershner's "Face in the Rain," and two films for director Robert Aldrich, "Autumn Leaves (1956) and cult favorite "The Legend of Lyle Clare" (1968).