- Born
- Died
- Birth nameUpton Beall Sinclair
- Upton Sinclair was born on September 20, 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for There Will Be Blood (2007), The Money Changers (1920) and Maiden No More. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Hard Willis, Mary Craig Sinclair and Meta Fuller. He died on November 25, 1968 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, USA.
- SpousesMary Elizabeth Hard Willis(October 14, 1961 - December 18, 1967) (her death)Mary Craig Sinclair(April 21, 1913 - April 26, 1961) (her death)Meta Fuller(October 18, 1900 - June 1912) (divorced, 1 child)
- Out of his own pocket, he sent copies of his novel "The Jungle" to every member of the U.S. Congress and then-President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, a voracious speed-reader who read several books a day, read Sinclair's novel and was horrified by the descriptions of conditions in the meat packing industry. He was inspired to champion for the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which led to the founding of the Food and Drug Administration.
- The Republican campaign against his Senate race forced them to spend $10 million, a record amount for the Depression.
- In his 1934 senate race his Republilcan rival ran a successful smear campaign that discredited Sinclair. One of the tactics was to quote his written works out of context to make it appear that he was, for example, an opponent of the Boy Scouts and an advocate of "Free Love".
- During the 1934 Senate race, phony newsreels designed to slander him were shown in California movie houses. The films had been produced by MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, who was also the California Republican party chairman.
- The Republican campaign against Sinclair generated so much animosity that when a woman announced at a Hollywood cocktail party her intention to vote for him she was forcibly ejected.
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