Budd Schulberg
Encyclopedia
Budd Schulberg was an American
screenwriter
, television producer
, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?
, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall
, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront
, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the Crowd.
and Adeline Jaffe Schulberg, who founded a talent agency taken over by her brother, agent/film producer Sam Jaffe
.
Schulberg attended Deerfield Academy
and then went on to Dartmouth College
, where he was actively involved in the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern
humor magazine and was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi
fraternity. In 1939 he collaborated on the screenplay for Winter Carnival
, a light comedy set at Dartmouth. One of his collaborators was F. Scott Fitzgerald
, who was fired because of his alcoholic binge during a visit with Schulberg to Dartmouth. Dartmouth College
awarded Schulberg an honorary degree in 1960.
, Schulberg was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS), working with John Ford
's documentary unit. Following VE Day, he was among the first American servicemen to liberate the Nazi-run concentration camps. He was involved in gathering evidence against war criminals for the Nuremberg Trials
, an assignment that included arresting documentary film maker Leni Riefenstahl
at her chalet
in Kitzbühel
, Austria, ostensibly to have her identify the faces of Nazi war criminals in German film footage captured by the Allied troops.
(who won a Tony Award
for his performance) and George Grizzard
as the character loosely based on Schulberg. In 1958, Schulberg wrote and co-produced (with his younger brother, Stuart) the film Wind Across the Everglades
, directed by Nicholas Ray
.
Schulberg encountered political controversy in 1951 when screenwriter Richard Collins, testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee
, named Schulberg as a former member of the Communist Party. Schulberg testified as a friendly witness that Party members had sought to influence the content of What Makes Sammy Run and "named names" of other Hollywood communists.
Schulberg was also a sports writer and former chief boxing correspondent for Sports Illustrated
. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his contributions to the sport.
In 1965, after a devastating riot had ripped apart the fabric of the Watts
section of Los Angeles
, Schulberg formed the Watts Writers Workshop
in an attempt to ease frustrations and bring artistic training to the economically impoverished district.
), Stephen and David (by second wife, Victoria; David was a Vietnam veteran who predeceased his father), Benn and Jessica (by fourth wife). His niece Sandra Schulberg was an executive producer of the Academy Award nominated film Quills
, among other movies. His mother, of The Ad Schulberg Agency, served as his agent until her death in 1977. His brother, Stuart Schulberg, was a movie and television producer (David Brinkley's Journal, The Today Show). His sister, Sonya Schulberg (O'Sullivan) is an occasional writer (novel "They Cried a Little," and stories).
Budd Schulberg died in his home at 12 Saint George Place, Quogue, New York
, aged 95.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?
What Makes Sammy Run?
What Makes Sammy Run? is a novel by Budd Schulberg. It is a rags to riches story chronicling the rise and fall of Sammy Glick, a Jewish boy born in New York's Lower East Side who very early in his life makes up his mind to escape the ghetto and climb the ladder of success...
, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall
The Harder They Fall
The Harder They Fall is a film noir directed by Mark Robson, featuring Humphrey Bogart in his last film before his death in 1957. The film was written by Philip Yordan and based on the 1947 novel by Budd Schulberg....
, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront is a 1954 American drama film about union violence and corruption among longshoremen. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. The soundtrack score was composed by Leonard...
, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the Crowd.
Early life
Born Seymour Wilson Schulberg, he was the son of Hollywood film-producer B. P. SchulbergB. P. Schulberg
B.P. Schulberg was a pioneer film producer and movie studio executive.Born Percival Schulberg in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from the boy in front of him when registering for school to avoid mockery for his British name...
and Adeline Jaffe Schulberg, who founded a talent agency taken over by her brother, agent/film producer Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (producer)
Sam Jaffe was, at different points in his career in the motion picture industry, an agent, a producer and a studio executive. He was brother-in-law to B.P...
.
Schulberg attended Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
and then went on to Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, where he was actively involved in the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern
Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern
The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern is a college humor magazine, founded at Dartmouth College in 1908.The Jacko publishes print issues approximately four times a year, as well as regularly updated online content and occasional video productions...
humor magazine and was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi International Fraternity Inc. is a college social fraternity with 35 active chapters and four colonies in the United States and Canada....
fraternity. In 1939 he collaborated on the screenplay for Winter Carnival
Winter carnival
A Winter carnival is an outdoor celebration that occurs in wintertime.Winter carnivals, or festivals, are popular in places where winter is particularly long or severe, such as Scandinavia, Canada and the northern United States...
, a light comedy set at Dartmouth. One of his collaborators was F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
, who was fired because of his alcoholic binge during a visit with Schulberg to Dartmouth. Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
awarded Schulberg an honorary degree in 1960.
World War II
While serving in the Navy during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Schulberg was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS), working with John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
's documentary unit. Following VE Day, he was among the first American servicemen to liberate the Nazi-run concentration camps. He was involved in gathering evidence against war criminals for the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
, an assignment that included arresting documentary film maker Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
at her chalet
Chalet
A chalet , also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, native to the Alpine region, made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof with wide, well-supported eaves set at right angles to the front of the house.-Definition and origin:...
in Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel
-Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer...
, Austria, ostensibly to have her identify the faces of Nazi war criminals in German film footage captured by the Allied troops.
Career
In 1950, Schulberg published The Disenchanted, about a young screenwriter who collaborates on a screenplay about a college winter festival with a famous novelist at the nadir of his career. The novelist (who was then assumed by reviewers to be a thinly disguised portrait of Fitzgerald, who had died ten years earlier) is portrayed as a tragic and flawed figure, with whom the young screenwriter becomes disillusioned. The novel was the 10th bestselling novel in the United States in 1950 and was adapted as a Broadway play in 1958, starring Jason RobardsJason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
(who won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for his performance) and George Grizzard
George Grizzard
George Cooper Grizzard, Jr. was an American actor of film and stage. He appeared in more than 40 films, dozens of television programs and a number of Broadway plays.-Life and career:...
as the character loosely based on Schulberg. In 1958, Schulberg wrote and co-produced (with his younger brother, Stuart) the film Wind Across the Everglades
Wind Across the Everglades
Wind Across the Everglades is a 1958 film directed by Nicholas Ray. Ray was fired from the film before production was finished, and several scenes were completed by screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who also supervised the editing....
, directed by Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
.
Schulberg encountered political controversy in 1951 when screenwriter Richard Collins, testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
, named Schulberg as a former member of the Communist Party. Schulberg testified as a friendly witness that Party members had sought to influence the content of What Makes Sammy Run and "named names" of other Hollywood communists.
Schulberg was also a sports writer and former chief boxing correspondent for Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his contributions to the sport.
In 1965, after a devastating riot had ripped apart the fabric of the Watts
Watts, Los Angeles, California
Watts is a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Watts is located on the Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant...
section of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Schulberg formed the Watts Writers Workshop
Watts Writers Workshop
The Watts Writers Workshop was a creative writing group initiated by screenwriter Budd Schulberg in the wake of the devastating 1965 Watts Riots in South Central Los Angeles . The group was composed primarily of young African Americans in Watts and the surrounding neighborhoods...
in an attempt to ease frustrations and bring artistic training to the economically impoverished district.
Personal life and death
Schulberg's third marriage, to actress Geraldine Brooks, ended with her death; they had no children. He is survived by his fourth wife, the former Betsy Ann Langman, and four of his five children: Victoria (by first wife, Virginia Ray, known as Jigee, who subsequently married Peter ViertelPeter Viertel
Peter Viertel was an author and screenwriter.-Biography:He was born to Jewish parents in Dresden, Germany, the writer and actress Salka Viertel and the writer Berthold Viertel. In 1928, his parents moved to Santa Monica, California where Viertel grew up with his brothers, Hans and Thomas...
), Stephen and David (by second wife, Victoria; David was a Vietnam veteran who predeceased his father), Benn and Jessica (by fourth wife). His niece Sandra Schulberg was an executive producer of the Academy Award nominated film Quills
Quills
Quills is a 2000 period film directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted from the Obie award-winning play by Doug Wright, who also wrote the original screenplay. Inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade, Quills re-imagines the last years of the Marquis' incarceration in the insane asylum at...
, among other movies. His mother, of The Ad Schulberg Agency, served as his agent until her death in 1977. His brother, Stuart Schulberg, was a movie and television producer (David Brinkley's Journal, The Today Show). His sister, Sonya Schulberg (O'Sullivan) is an occasional writer (novel "They Cried a Little," and stories).
Budd Schulberg died in his home at 12 Saint George Place, Quogue, New York
Quogue, New York
Quogue is an incorporated village in Southampton, Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 1,018.-Geography:Quogue is located at ....
, aged 95.
Further reading
- Beck, Nicholas. Budd Schulberg: A Bio-Bibliography Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001.
External links
- The Papers of Budd Schulberg in Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College
- Channel 4 News interview with Budd Schulberg, February 2009
- 1998 interview with Schulberg about On the Waterfront
- "The Priest Who Made Budd Schulberg Run: 'On the Waterfront' and Jesuit Social Action", Inside Fordham Online, May 2003
- "Corruption Found at Waterfront Watchdog" New York Times, August 12, 2009. Article mentions Schulberg and his book On the Waterfront in noting similarity to recent allegations.