Cleo Trumbo inspired screenwriter husband Dalton

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Cleo Trumbo, the widow of Oscar-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, a member of the blacklisted Hollywood 10, was a carhop at a Hollywood drive-in when they first met. They were married in 1938.

Many years after Dalton Trumbo died in 1976, his writer son Christopher was going through his father’s collected papers and found a letter that had the following reference to Cleo:

‘Neither Cleo nor I had the slightest idea of what we were in for, and I must confess that if I have stood for anything of value or crafted anything that will resonate beyond my lifetime, I owe the debt of its accomplishment to her.’

Cleo Trumbo died Oct. 9 at 93.

-- Dennis McLellan