Bella (25 March 1899 – 27 April 1990) and Samuel Spewack (16 September 1899 – 14 October 1971) were a husband-and-wife writing team. Samuel, who also directed many of their plays, was born in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He attended Stuyvesant High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and then received his degree from Columbia College.

Lives and careers

The oldest of three children of a single mother, Bella Cohen was born in

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and with her family emigrated to the Lower East Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

when she was a child. After graduation from Washington Irving High School, she worked as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

for

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and pacifist

newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...

such as the ''

New York Call The ''New York Call'' was a socialism, socialist daily newspaper published in New York City from 1908 through 1923. The ''Call'' was the second of three English-language dailies affiliated with the Socialist Party of America, following the ''Chica ...

''. Her work drew attention from Samuel, working as a reporter for ''The World'', and the couple married in 1922. Shortly afterwards, they departed for

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, where they worked as news correspondents for the next four years. After returning to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, they settled in

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. ...

. In the latter part of the decade, Samuel wrote several novels, including ''Mon Paul'', ''The Skyscraper Murder'', and ''The Murder in the Gilded Cage'', on his own, while the pair collaborated on plays. The two wrote several plays and screenplays for mostly

B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

throughout the 1930s, earning an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Original Story for ''

My Favorite Wife ''My Favorite Wife'' (released in the U.K. as ''My Favourite Wife'') is a 1940 screwball comedy produced by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. The picture stars Irene Dunne as a woman who, after being shipwrecked on a tropical island fo ...

'' in 1940. They also penned a remake of ''

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

'', entitled ''

Week-End at the Waldorf ''Week-End at the Waldorf'', an American comedy drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, and Van Johnson. It premiered in Los Angeles on 17 October 1945. The screenplay by Samuel and Bella ...

'' (1945), which starred

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

. Always known as a turbulent couple, the Spewaks were in the midst of their own marital woes in 1948 when they were approached to write the book for ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...

'', which centered on a once-married couple of thespians who use the stage on which they're performing as a battling ground. Bella initially began working with composer Cole Porter on her own, but theatrical necessity overcame marital sparks, and the Spewacks completed the project together. It yielded each of them two

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s, one for Best Musical, the other for Best Author of a Musical. ''Kiss Me, Kate'' proved to be their most successful work. In 1965, Sam collaborated with

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...

on a musical adaptation of the 1961 Spewack play ''Once There Was a Russian.'' Entitled ''

Pleasures and Palaces ''Pleasures and Palaces'' is a musical with a book by Frank Loesser and Sam Spewack and music and lyrics by Loesser. It is based on Spewack's flop 1961 play ''Once There Was a Russian'' and takes its title from the opening lyrics of the 1823 song ...

'', it closed following its

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

run and never opened on Broadway. Bella was a successful

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

for the

Camp Fire Girls Camp Fire, formerly Camp Fire USA and originally Camp Fire Girls of America, is a co-ed youth development organization. Camp Fire was the first nonsectarian, multicultural organization for girls in America. It is gender inclusive, and its prog ...

and Girl Scouts of the USA, and claimed to have introduced the idea of selling cookies for the latter as a means of raising revenue for the organization. ''A Letter to Sam from Bella'', a one-act play by Broadway director Aaron Frankel, is based on the Spewacks' personal papers from the Theater Arts Collection of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Their best known straight play was '' My Three Angels'', which is still sometimes performed, and was adapted as the film '' We're No Angels''.

Additional Broadway credits

*''The War Song'', 1928 *''Poppa'', 1928 *''Clear All Wires'', 1932 *''Spring Song'', 1934 *''Boy Meets Girl'', 1935 *''

Leave It to Me! ''Leave It to Me!'' is a 1938 musical produced by Vinton Freedley with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book was a collaborative effort by Samuel and Bella Spewack, who also directed the Broadway production. The musical was based on the pla ...

'', 1938 *''Miss Swan Expects'', 1939 *''Woman Bites Dog'', 1946 *'' Two Blind Mice'', 1949 *''The Golden State'', 1950 *'' My Three Angels'', 1953 *''Festival'', 1955 *''Once There Was a Russian'', 1961

References

External links

* * * *
Finding aid to Bella and Samuel Spewack papers
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spewack, Samuel and Bella 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American novelists American male non-fiction writers Columbia College (New York) alumni Jewish American songwriters Married couples Novelists from New York (state) People from the Lower East Side Tony Award winners Washington Irving High School (New York City) alumni Writers from Pennsylvania