Elliott Baker born Elliot Joseph Cohen, was a 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:...

 and novelist.

Baker was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Indiana University. He was the author of the comic novel

Comic novel

A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer not only seeks to amuse the reader, but also to make the reader think about controversial issues, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations...

 A Fine Madness

A Fine Madness

A Fine Madness is a motion picture comedy based on the 1964 novel by Elliott Baker that tells the story of Samson Shillitoe, a frustrated poet unable to finish a grand tome. It stars Sean Connery , Joanne Woodward, Jean Seberg, Patrick O'Neal and Clive Revill...

, which was published in 1964 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. He adapted the novel into a 1966 motion picture starring Sean Connery

Sean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...

 and Joanne Woodward

Joanne Woodward

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...

.

A Fine Madness tells the story of Samson Shillitoe, a rebellious poet in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

 who battles a psychiatrist seeking to curb his mood swings via psychosurgery. The New York Times Book Review called the novel "a masterpiece of what one might call rebellious farce."

His other novels included Pocock & Pitt (Putnam, 1971); Klynt's Law (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1976); And We Were Young (Times Books, 1979); and Unhealthful Air (Viking, 1988). His novel The Penny Wars (Putnam, 1968) was adapted for the Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 stage.

As a screenwriter he wrote a number of television movies, and was nominated for an Emmy award in 1976 for his adaptation of The Entertainer

The Entertainer (play)

The Entertainer is a three act play by John Osborne, first produced in 1957. His first play, Look Back in Anger, had attracted mixed notices but a great deal of publicity. Having depicted an "angry young man" in the earlier play, Osborne wrote, at Laurence Olivier's request,about an angry middle...

. He also wrote "Side Show", the most famous episode of Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...

's 1961 television anthology

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

 horror series Way Out, which featured a carnival "electric woman with a light bulb for a head."

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