Albert Maurice Hackett[citation needed] (February 16, 1900 – March 16, 1995[1]) was an American actor, dramatist and screenwriter most noted for his collaborations with his partner and wife Frances Goodrich.

[3] His Broadway credits as a performer include Mr. and Mrs. North (1941), Up Pops the Devil (1930), Mirrors (1928), Off-Key (1927), Twelve Miles Out (1925), The Nervous Wreck (1923), Up the Ladder (1922), Just a Woman (1914) and The Happy Marriage (1909).

[5] Soon after marrying screenwriter Frances Goodrich, the couple moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s to write the screenplay for their stage success Up Pops the Devil for Paramount Pictures.

They were encouraged by director W. S. Van Dyke to use the writing of Dashiell Hammett as a basis only and to concentrate on providing witty exchanges for the principal characters, Nick and Nora Charles[3] (played by William Powell and Myrna Loy).

[citation needed] In 1985, one year after Goodrich's death, Hackett married Gisella Svetlik, a former dancer who had appeared in the original Broadway productions of Kiss Me, Kate, Carousel, Follow the Girls, Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!