Walter Bernstein
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. Some of his notable works included '' The Front'' (1976), '' Yanks'' (1979), and '' Little Miss Marker'' (1980). He was a recipient of Writers Guild of America Awards including the Ian McLellan Hunter Award and the Evelyn F. Burkey Award.


Early life

Bernstein was born on August 20, 1919, in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, to Eastern European Jewish immigrants Hannah (née Bistrong) and Louis Bernstein, a teacher. He studied at the Erasmus High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn. After graduating from high school, he went on to study a six-month immersive language course at
University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...
, where he lived with a French family who were acquaintances of his father. It was here that he was exposed first to communist ideas. He returned to the United States and attended
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, where he gained his first writing job, as a film reviewer for the campus newspaper, and where he joined the Young Communist League. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1940.Bernstein, Walter (1945). ''Keep Your Head Down'', Viking Press. Book jacket text In February 1941, Bernstein was drafted into the U.S. Army. Eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant, he spent most of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a correspondent on the staff of the Army newspaper '' Yank'', filing dispatches from Iran, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, and Yugoslavia. He wrote of his experiences in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
in an article titled "War and Palestine". Bernstein wrote a number of articles and stories based on his experiences in the Army, some of which originally appeared in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''. These were collected in ''Keep Your Head Down'', his first book, published in 1945.


Career

Bernstein first came to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
in 1947, under a ten-week contract with writer-producer-director
Robert Rossen Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film '' All the King's Men'' won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and B ...
at
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, working uncredited for ''All the King's Men''. After that he worked for producer
Harold Hecht Harold Adolphe Hecht (June 1, 1907 – May 26, 1985) was an American film producer, dance director and talent agent. He was also, though less noted for, a literary agent, a theatrical producer, a theatre director and a Broadway actor. He was ...
, which resulted in his first screen credit, shared with Ben Maddow, for their adaptation of the Gerald Butler novel for the film '' Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' (1948) for Universal. He subsequently returned to New York, where he continued writing for ''The New Yorker'' and other magazines, and eventually found work as a scriptwriter in the early days of live television.


Blacklist

In 1950, because of his numerous left-wing political affiliations and related activities, his name appeared in the publication '' Red Channels'', resulting in his
blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
by Hollywood studios as a part of the McCarthy era actions against individuals with communist affiliations. Throughout the 1950s, however, he managed to continue writing for television, both under pseudonyms and through the use of "fronts" (non-blacklisted individuals who would permit their names to appear on his work). In this manner, he contributed to television programs of the era, including ''
Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Island ...
'', the
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
docudrama series '' You Are There'', and the mystery series '' Colonel March of Scotland Yard''. (It has been incorrectly stated in some sources that Bernstein's blacklisting resulted from "unfriendly" testimony given to
HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...
in 1951, but, in fact, he was not subpoenaed by the committee until the late 1950s, and never actually testified.)


Rebound

Bernstein's screenwriting career began to rebound from the blacklist when director
Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...
hired him to write the screenplay for the
Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...
movie '' That Kind of Woman'' (1959). From then on Bernstein was able to work openly on films such as ''
Paris Blues ''Paris Blues'' is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz saxophonist Eddie Cook, and Paul Newman as trombone-playing Ram Bowen. The two men romance two vacationing Amer ...
'' (1961) and ''
Fail-Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure causes, failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. ...
'' (1964). He worked uncredited on the screenplays of ''
The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...
'' (1960) and '' The Train'' (1964), and was one of several writers who worked on the script for the ill-fated '' Something's Got to Give'', which was left uncompleted at the time of the death of its star,
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...
, in 1962. ''Paris Blues'' was his first feature film collaboration with director
Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director, producer, and actor, active in film, theatre and television. He was known mainly as an auteur of socially-conscious dramas and literary adaptations, described by Stanley K ...
, a friend since the 1940s (and himself a victim of the Hollywood blacklist); they subsequently worked together on '' The Molly Maguires'' (1970), which Bernstein also co-produced with Ritt, and '' The Front'' (1976). The latter film is a drama about a restaurant cashier (played by
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
) with no real talent or political convictions who is hired to act as a "front" for blacklisted television writers during the 1950s. It earned Bernstein an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination for Best Original Screenplay and the WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen. Bernstein made a cameo appearance in Allen's film ''
Annie Hall ''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer ...
'' (1977). Bernstein was nominated for the WGA for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium for ''
Semi-Tough ''Semi-Tough'' is a 1977 American sports comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Robert Preston, Lotte Lenya, and Bert Convy. It is set in the world of American professional fo ...
'' (1977) and for a
BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay The BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay is a British Academy Film Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (B ...
for '' Yanks'' (1979). He stepped behind the camera as director of his only feature film, '' Little Miss Marker'' (1980), a remake of the 1934 film based on the
Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American journalist and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway theatre, Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Proh ...
story of the same name. He also wrote and directed one segment of the made-for-TV movie '' Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules'' (1991).


Teaching

Bernstein served until his death in 2021 as an adjunct visiting instructor and screenwriting thesis adviser at New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...
in the Department of Dramatic Writing. Bernstein also served as a visiting screenwriting instructor at Columbia University School of the Arts in the 1990s.


Publication

Bernstein's book, ''Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist'', was published in 1996. In his memoirs, he recounts joining the Young Communist League at Dartmouth College in 1937, and the Communist Party itself the year after he left the U.S. Army.


Personal life

Bernstein was married four times, with the first three marriages to Marva Spelman, Barbara Lane, and Judith Braun, ending up in divorces. He married literary agent Gloria Loomis in 1988. In the 1950s, he was also in a relationship with actress Maggie McNamara. He had two children with his first wife Marva Spelman, Joan Bernstein and Peter Spelman; three children with his third wife Judith Braun, Nicholas Bernstein, Andrew Bernstein, and Jake Bernstein. He died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
on January 23, 2021, at the age of 101.


Other awards

* In 1994, he received the Ian McLellan Hunter Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Writing from the
Writers Guild of America, East The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media. The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...
(WGAE). * In 2008, the WGAE presented Bernstein with their Evelyn F. Burkey Award, given "in recognition of contributions that have brought honor and dignity to writers everywhere."


References


General references

*


Inline citations


External links

* * * Ávila, Molly Rose; Zucker, Gregory (July 11, 2011)
"In Conversation: Red Memories"
''
The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is an American publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics, based in Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, critics, and ...
''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Walter 1919 births 2021 deaths Film producers from New York (state) American male screenwriters Dartmouth College alumni Members of the Communist Party USA Hollywood blacklist Jewish American screenwriters Writers from Brooklyn Screenwriters from New York City United States Army personnel of World War II American men centenarians United States Army non-commissioned officers Military personnel from New York City Deaths from pneumonia in New York City 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American memoirists Jewish centenarians