Art Cohn (April 5, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and author. Cohn and Hollywood producer

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of '' Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Act ...

died in a plane crash in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

in 1958.

Career

Sportswriter

Cohn was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Early in his career he wrote for the ''

Long Beach Press-Telegram The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Ly ...

''. From 1936 to 1943, he was a sportswriter and sports editor for the ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'', which published his sports column ''Cohn-ing Tower'' (

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phon ...

on "

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

"). He worked as a press correspondent during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In January 1958, after being away from newspaper work for 14 years, Cohn joined ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

''; in his first column there, he wrote, "Things seem to happen where I happen to be." Cohn was a controversial opinion writer of the time; he "afflicted the sports world with hard questions about racial equality long before the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

."Columnist was early, angry voice against sports color line
Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2008. He was also a boxing fan.

Screenwriter

Cohn was a

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) * Hollywoo ...

on many movies, including: *'' The Set-Up'' (1949) *''

Stromboli Stromboli ( , ; scn, Struògnuli ) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing Mount Stromboli, one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the eight Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Si ...

'' (1950) *''The Tall Target'' (1951) *'' Tomorrow Is Another Day'' (1951) *'' Carbine Williams'' (1952) *''Glory Alley'' (1952) *''

Red Skies of Montana ''Red Skies of Montana'' is a 1952 adventure drama film in which Richard Widmark stars as a smokejumper who attempts to save his crew while being overrun by a forest fire, not only to preserve their lives, but to redeem himself after being the o ...

'' (1952) *''Fatal Desire'' (1953) *''

The Girl Who Had Everything ''The Girl Who Had Everything'' is a 1953 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Armande Deutsch for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film features William Powell in his last MGM feature and one of his last film roles b ...

'' (1953) *''Tennessee Champ'' (1954) *''Men of the Fighting Lady'' (1954) *'' Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' (1957) *''

The Seven Hills of Rome ''Seven Hills of Rome'' (Italian title: ''Arrivederci Roma'') is an Italian-American film international co-production released in January 1958 and shot on location in Rome and at the Titanus studios. It was filmed in Technicolor and Technirama, di ...

'' (1958) He also wrote teleplays for unsold

television pilots A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

''Plane for Hire'' in 1957 and ''The

Celeste Holm Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in ''Come to ...

Show'' in 1958.

Author

Cohn was the author of the Joe E. Lewis biography ''The Joker Is Wild'', published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 1955, on which the movie ''

The Joker Is Wild ''The Joker Is Wild'' is a 1957 American musical drama film directed by Charles Vidor, starring Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, and Eddie Albert, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is about Joe E. Lewis, the popular si ...

'' (1957) was based. At the time of his death, Cohn was writing a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

of Mike Todd, ''The Nine Lives of Michael Todd'', which was finished by Cohn's wife and released by Random House in 1958.

Death

Cohn died on March 22, 1958, in the same plane crash that killed

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

and Hollywood

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Mike Todd, pilot Bill Verner and co-pilot Tom Barclay. The twin-engine, 12-passenger

Lockheed Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era. Design and development Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, which first flew in 1937, had proved disappointing, despite the ai ...

crashed in bad weather in the

Zuni Mountains Zuni may refer to: Peoples and languages * Zuni people, an indigenous people of the United States * Zuni language, their language Places * Zuni, Virginia, an unincorporated town in Virginia in the United States * Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, a ...

near Grants, New Mexico. Ironically, Todd had named the plane ''The Lucky Liz'' after wife

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

. Cohn, a resident of

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

, was survived by his wife, Marta, and his two sons, Ian and Ted.

Works

* *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Art 1909 births 1958 deaths American columnists American male screenwriters Sportswriters from New York (state) Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1958 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Jewish American writers Accidental deaths in New Mexico 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers People from Beverly Hills, California American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from California Writers from New York City Sportswriters from California 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews