Jack Lait
Jack Lait (March 13, 1883 – April 1, 1954) was an American journalist.
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[edit] Life
Born Jacquin Leonard Lait in New York City, he became renowned during his fifty year career in journalism as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century. He wrote a syndicated column called All in the Family for two decades, was the editor of the New York Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, and ended his career working for the Hearst Corporation. During his tenure as editor, the New York Daily Mirror gained the second highest circulation of any U.S. newspaper. In 1963, nine years after Lait's death, it ceased publication following a strike, and was absorbed into the then top-selling paper the New York Daily News.
With Lee Mortimer, Lait wrote New York Confidential, Chicago Confidential, and Washington Confidential in 1951, which became a bestseller.
Lait and Mortimer's books inspired the movies New York Confidential (1955), a Challenge Productions/Warner Bros. film directed by Russell Rouse, with a script written by Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse, and Chicago Confidential (1957), a Robert E. Kent Productions/United Artists film directed by Sidney Salkow with a script written by Clarence Greene, Russell Rouse, and Bernard Gordon. There was also a television series, New York Confidential, which lasted one season.
Lait died of a circulatory ailment in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 71.
[edit] Works
Lait wrote numerous books and Broadway plays.
[edit] Plays
- The Hook-up, May 7, 1935 - May 1935
- Rufus LeMaire's Affairs, [Original, Musical, Revue] March 28, 1927 - May 1927
- Spice of 1922, [Original, Musical, Revue] July 6, 1922 - Sep 9, 1922
- One of Us, September 9, 1918 - Sep 1918
- Help Wanted, February 11, 1914 - May 1914
[edit] Books
- Beef, Iron, and Wine – Garden City, Doubleday, Page & Co 1916
- Put on the Spot" – NY: Grosset & Dunlap (1930) (basis of 1931 film "Bad Company")
- Our Will Rogers – NY, Greenberg 1935
- New York Confidential, The Lowdown on Its Bright Life (with Lee Mortimer) – Chicago: Ziff-Davis, 1948
- Washington Confidential (with Mortimer – Crown Publishers 1951
- Chicago Confidential (with Mortimer) – Crown 1951
- U.S.A. Confidential (with Mortimer) – Crown 1952
[edit] Source
- Lait and Mortimer, Washington Confidential 1951 Crown Publishers NY
