Robert Alan Aurthur
Robert Alan Aurthur | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 10, 1922 United States |
| Died | November 20, 1978 (aged 56) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Producer, screenwriter, film director |
| Notable work | All That Jazz |
| Spouse | |
Robert Alan Aurthur (June 10, 1922 – November 20, 1978) was an American screenwriter, film director, and film producer.[1]
Early life
Raised in Freeport, he a was pre‐med student at the University of Pennsylvania. Once World War II broke out, he left to join the Marines.[2]
Television
In the early years of television, he wrote for Studio One and then moved on to write episodes of Mister Peepers (1952–53). He followed with teleplays for Campbell Playhouse (1954), Justice (1954), Goodyear Television Playhouse (1953–54) and Producers' Showcase (1955). One of his four 1951-55 plays for Philco Television Playhouse was the Emmy-nominated A Man Is Ten Feet Tall (1955), with Don Murray and Sidney Poitier, which was adapted two years later as the theatrical film, Edge of the City (1957) with Poitier and John Cassavetes.
He wrote two teleplays for Playhouse 90, and one of these, A Sound of Different Drummers (3 October 1957), borrowed so heavily from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 that Bradbury sued.[3] He appears with Merle Miller in David Susskind's biographical [https://www.amazon.com/Give-em-Hell-Harry-Truman/dp/B079XZQJV7/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=David+Susskind&qid=1550808915&s=instant-video&sr=1-5 television bio "Give Em Hell Harry" of President Truman, and gets off a great line, " . . . going into a Howard Johnsons's was bad enough, but with a President." They discuss George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, and observations on Truman's respect for Marshall.
Film
After 1957, he continued to write screenplays. He was one of the writers on Spring Reunion (1957), notable as Betty Hutton's last movie, following with Warlock (1959), and his earlier association with Cassavetes led to script contributions on the actor's directorial debut with Shadows (1959). After an uncredited contribution to Lilith (1964), he scripted John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix (1966).
He wrote and directed The Lost Man (1969) about a black militant (Sidney Poitier). As the writer-producer of All That Jazz (1979)[1], he received two posthumous Academy Award nominations.
Personal life
Aurthur served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was the first husband of actress Beatrice Arthur, who also served in the Marines; they divorced in 1950 and had no children. She used a variation of his surname as her professional name.[4]
Death
Aurthur died of lung cancer in New York City, aged 56.
References
- ^ a b Canby, Vincent (December 20, 1979). "All That Jazz (1979) The Screen: Roy Scheider Stars in 'All That Jazz':Peter Pan Syndrome". The New York Times.
- ^ Thomas, Robert McG. (November 21, 1978). "Robert A. Aurthur, 56 Years Old, A Leading Writer and Producer". NY Times. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ Interview with Sterling Hayden by Gerald Peary
- ^ Thesmokinggun.com
External links
- Robert Alan Aurthur at IMDb
- Robert Alan Aurthur - BFI database entry
- Robert Alan Aurthur - allmovie
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1922 births
- 1978 deaths
- American male screenwriters
- Television producers from New York City
- Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
- Deaths from lung cancer
- People from Freeport, New York
- Writers from New York City
- Military pesonnel from New York City
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- Film directors from New York City
- Screenwriters from New York (state)
- Princeton University alumni