Norman Panama

Norman Panama
Born	April 21, 1914 Chicago, Illinois
Died	January 13, 2003(2003-01-13) (aged 88) Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter

Norman Kaye Panama (April 21, 1914 – January 13, 2003) was an American screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Melvin Frank, to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades. He also wrote gags for comedians such as Bob Hope's radio program and for Groucho Marx.

The most famous films he directed were Li'l Abner (1959), the Danny Kaye film The Court Jester (1956), and the Bob Hope film How to Commit Marriage (1969). He wrote Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), Road to Utopia (1946), and The Court Jester, among other movies.

He won an Edgar Award for A Talent for Murder (1981), a play he co-wrote with Jerome Chodorov. Panama continued to write and direct through the 1980s. He died in 2003 in Los Angeles, California, aged 88, from complications of Parkinson's disease.

Selected Filmography

• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (with Melvin Frank) (1948)
• White Christmas (with Melvin Frank and Norman Krasna) (1954)
• The Court Jester (with Melvin Frank) (1955) (also Co-Director)
• Li'l Abner (with Melvin Frank) (1959)
• The Facts of Life (with Melvin Frank) (1960)
• The Road to Hong Kong (1962) (with Melvin Frank (also Director)
• Not with My Wife, You Don't! (with Melvin Frank and Larry Gelbart) (1966) (also Co-Director)
• The Maltese Bippy (1969) (Director Only)
• How to Commit Marriage (1969) (Director Only)
• Coffee, Tea or Me? (with Melvin Frank and Stanley Ralph Ross) (1973) (TV) (also Director)
• I Will, I Will... for Now (with Albert E. Lewin) (1973) (also Director)
• Barnaby and Me (1978)

External links

• Norman Panama at IMDb