Talbot Jennings was born in Shoshone, Idaho, August 25, 1894, the son of the Episcopal archdeacon of Idaho and Wyoming. He graduated from Nampa High School. After serving in the Army in World War I, where he fought in five major battles, he attended the University of Idaho where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1924. He attended Harvard University where he earned a master's degree, and then attended the Yale Drama School. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Idaho in 1939.

While at the University of Idaho he was president of the Associated Students. He also wrote Light on the Mountains, a state history set to music, which was first presented by students in 1923. He was editor of the yearbook, Gem of the Mountains, and the English Department literary publication Blue Bucket.

He was the author of 17 screen plays, including Mutiny on the Bounty, Anna and the King of Siam, The Good Earth, and Northwest Passage. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1936 version of Romeo and Juliet. In addition to movie screenplays he wrote for several television series including "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Alaskans". He was twice nominated for an academy award.

Talbot Jennings died in East Glacier, Montana on May 30, 1985.