Jay Presson Allen
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Jay Presson Allen (March 3, 1922 – May 1, 2006) was an American screenwriter, playwright, stage director, television producer, and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes-off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession.''New York Times'', Obituary. May 2, 2006. "You write to please yourself," she said, "The only office where there's no superior is the office of the scribe."''L.A. Times.'' October 5, 1982. 6.


Early life

Allen was born Jacqueline Presson in
San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
, the only child of Willie Mae (née Miller), a buyer, and Albert Jack Presson, a
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
merchant. She was "never particularly fond of her given name", and decided to use her first initial when writing. She would spend every Saturday and Sunday in the movie house, from one o'clock until somebody dragged her out at seven. From that time on movies became very important to her, and Allen knew she wouldn't be staying in
West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
. Allen attended Miss Hockaday's School for Young Ladies in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
for a couple of years, but came away, in her words, "having had no education to speak of."McGilligan, 1986. She skipped college and at 18 left home to become an actress. In New York, her career lasted "for about twenty-five minutes", Allen says, when she realized that she only liked rehearsals and the first week of performance, and would rather be "out there" where the decisions were being made.Acker, 1991. pp. 201–203. In the early 1940s, Allen married "the first grown man who asked me," Robert M. Davis, a promising young singer, and they lived in Claremont, California during World War II. She continued acting while in California; she has a small credited role (under the name Jay Presson) in the 1945 film '' An Angel Comes to Brooklyn'' and can be glimpsed briefly as "Miss Zelda" in the 1946 film ''
Gay Blades ''Gay Blades'' is a 1946 American comedy film directed by George Blair and written by Albert Beich and Marcy Klauber. The film stars Allan Lane, Jean Rogers, Edward Ashley, Frank Albertson, Ann Gillis and Robert Armstrong. The film was release ...
''.


Writing career

Allen became a writer by default, having always read constantly. Being able to write pretty well, she decided to "write her way out" of the marriage and set out to become financially independent of her husband. She always claimed her first husband's big fault was marrying someone too young. Her debut novel, '' Spring Riot'', was published in 1948 and got mixed reviews. Her next effort was a play, which she sent to producer Bob Whitehead. Because he had produced ''
Member of the Wedding ''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Margar ...
'', she thought he would like it since her play was also about a child, but the play came back from Whitehead's office rejected. Allen waited for a couple of months and sent it back, rightly figuring that some reader had rejected it instead of Whitehead himself. This time Whitehead read the play and instantly
optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...
it, but due to casting problems her play was never produced on stage. The reader who had initially rejected her play was Lewis M. Allen, whom she would later marry.


Second marriage

Allen returned to New York and performed on radio and in cabaret, both of which she loathed, and would go through the whole performance wishing to be fired. In the meantime she started writing again, little by little, and sold some of her work to live television programs like ''
The Philco Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golde ...
''. When she married Lewis M. Allen in 1955, they moved to the countryside, where Lewis wrote and Allen in her words "didn't want to do anything." She had a baby, and spent two and a half "absolutely wonderful years in the country." Eventually the couple came back to the city to work. By then, Bob Whitehead had become a good friend and encouraged Allen to write another play. She drew on her married life and wrote ''The First Wife'', about a suburban working couple. It was made into the film '' Wives and Lovers'' in 1963, starring
Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...
and
Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...
. When Allen read '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', by
Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...
, she instantly saw play potential where no one else did. After undergoing hypnotherapy to alleviate a yearlong bout of writer's block, Allen produced a draft of the play in three days.


Career


''Marnie''

While ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' was still an unproduced script, Alfred Hitchcock read it and offered Allen the script for ''
Marnie ''Marnie'' is an English crime novel, written by Winston Graham and first published in 1961. It has been adapted as a film, a stage play and an opera. Plot ''Marnie'' is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling her employers' funds, ...
'' (1964). Hitchcock brought Allen to California to work on the film at
Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
in the San Fernando Valley. Allen, who lived close by, would bicycle to work. This upset Hitchcock, who insisted that a limousine be sent for her every day, whether she wanted it or not. On days when she tried to walk to the studio, the limousine trailed along behind her. In Allen's opinion, she couldn't learn fast enough to make a first-rate movie, although she thought ''Marnie'' did have some good scenes in it. Hitchcock would have made her a director but she told him no. Said Allen: "It seems perfectly clear to me that any project takes a minimum of a year to direct. I like to get things on and over with. ... Did you ever hear the phrase, 'the lady proposes, the studio disposes'? I didn't make it up. I would never propose myself as a director." Under Hitchcock's mentoring, Allen developed the screenwriting talent she would use the rest of her career. Allen wrote that she never felt discriminated against. While being one of the rare female screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1960s, she said "almost all of the men I worked with were supportive. If I was getting a bum rap somewhere, I didn't know it."


''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie''

'' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', about an iconoclast Scottish girls' school teacher, did not premiere on the London stage until after ''Marnies completion. Produced by Donald Albery, it premiered at the
Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...
in May 1966 with
Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
and ran hundreds of performances. In January 1968, it opened in New York with
Zoe Caldwell Zoe Ada Caldwell, (14 September 1933 – 16 February 2020) was an Australian actress. She was a four-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), and Best Actress in a Play for '' The Pri ...
as Brodie and ran for an entire year. Allen also wrote the screenplay for the 1969 film starring Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens. Said Allen: "All the women who played Brodie got whatever prize was going around at that time. Vanessa did, Maggie mithdid".


''Forty Carats''

After ''Jean Brodie'', Allen had another success on Broadway with '' Forty Carats'' (1968). Her adaptation of the French boulevard comedy by
Pierre Barillet Pierre Barillet (24 August 1923 – 8 January 2019) was a French playwright. Biography Barillet was born in Paris, France. Passionate about theatre since childhood, he wrote his first play, ''Les Héritiers'', in 1945 after being a law student. ...
and
Jean-Pierre Gredy Jean-Pierre Grédy, often anglicised as Gredy (16 August 1920 – 6 February 2022) was a French playwright. Biography After studying literature and law, Grédy entered IDHEC because he wanted to write screenplays. He wrote the screenplay for ...
premiered in December 1968 with
Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play. Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
as the 42-year-old who has an affair with a 22-year-old man.''The Guardian Obituary'', May 5, 2006; accessed October 17, 2014. Harris won a
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 ...
for her performance. In 1973, Allen adapted her play for the screen, which turned out to be a critical and commercial disappointment.''Alternate Film Guide''. May 2, 2006; accessed October 16, 2014.


''Travels with My Aunt''

Bobby Fryer Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a consta ...
, who had produced the ''Jean Brodie'' film, had collaborated with Katharine Hepburn to make the film version of
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
's '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1972), specifically for
George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...
to direct. Cukor for some reason wasn't getting any work and Hepburn was casting around for projects. They asked Allen to come on board for the script, but she was busy and instead suggested
Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended Lon ...
. After a few months, Fryer and Hepburn still weren't happy with Wheeler's script, so Allen agreed to work on the project and wrote a very straightforward script for them. But Hepburn had just starred in the disastrous adaptation of ''
Madwoman of Chaillot ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (french: La Folle de Chaillot) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woma ...
'' and didn't want, in Allen's words, "to play another crazy old lady." Hepburn was reluctant to let Cukor down and wouldn't admit her reservations and began to find fault with the script, even rewriting many sections herself. Consequently, Allen finally gave up the endeavor, telling Hepburn that she ought to write it herself, which the actress did. Eventually, Hepburn provoked the studio into making her quit the project, leaving Fryer free to bring ''Jean Brodies Maggie Smith onto the picture. One speech of Allen's remains in the script, otherwise it is all Hepburn's product. The Writer's Guild refused to put Hepburn's name on the script because she wasn't a guild member; Fryer refused to let Allen take her name off because she was the one he paid, and Wheeler was burned that he received no credit at all.


''Cabaret''

Structure was what Allen brought to the screenplay for
Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. He directed and choreographed musical works on stage and screen, including the stage musicals ''The Pajam ...
's ''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
''. The producers hadn't wanted to film the stage script by Joe Masteroff and
John Van Druten John William Van Druten (1 June 190119 December 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observation ...
, and felt that not portraying the male lead as a homosexual was dishonest to the story. They wanted to go back to Christopher Isherwood's original novel '' Goodbye to Berlin'' of 1939, but the Berlin stories weren't structured in any linear fashion and Allen had to diagram the entire story.Crist, 1984. pp.282–311. Allen and Fosse got along badly from the start: she found him "so depressed that it took two hours just to get him in the frame of mind for work." In Allen's opinion most of the humor from the original was lost; she believed Fosse didn't really like the lead character of Sally Bowles at all. She worked on the screenplay for ten months, but in the end Fosse and the producers were still unhappy with the final form, and having commitments elsewhere, Allen handed the script over to her friend
Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended Lon ...
.


''Funny Lady''

In Allen's opinion, the problem with ''
Funny Lady ''Funny Lady'' is a 1975 American biographical musical comedy-drama film and the sequel to the 1968 film '' Funny Girl''. The film stars Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall and Ben Vereen. Herbert Ross, who helmed the musi ...
'' was that
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
had not wanted to do a sequel to '' Funny Girl'' and was determined to give the director,
Herbert Ross Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing ...
, a hard time. The picture does, however, contain some of Allen's most satisfying work, some of which she doesn't remember writing and just seems to have come out of nowhere.


''Family''

The idea for the television show ''
Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
'' was born in Aaron Spelling's kitchen, where he and
Leonard Goldberg Leonard J. Goldberg (January 24, 1934 – December 4, 2019) was an American film and television producer. He had his own production company, Panda Productions (formerly Mandy Films, and earlier Daydream Productions when he was working with Jer ...
came up with the idea about a show that centered on the emotional life of a family. They pitched the idea to Allen and she liked it. Allen spent two weeks at the Beverly Hills Hotel while she knocked out a script. Len and Aaron loved it; it was touching and had marvelous moments of compassion, and was exactly what they had talked about in the kitchen. The pilot was great, but ABC didn't buy it. It wasn't until two years later that ABC entered a production deal with
Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...
, who turned down all their ideas in favor of the script for ''Family'' that his Connecticut neighbor Jay Allen had shown him. It was Nichols who brought in
Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
for the pilot which premiered at 10:00pm on March 9, 1976; the series went on to run for four years and 86 episodes. Later in life Allen would remark about television: "I hate it, I hate it because the buck doesn't stop anywhere."


''Just Tell Me What You Want!''

"Male characters are easier to write. They're simpler. I think women are generally more psychologically complicated. You have to put a little more effort into writing a woman." – Jay Presson Allen. Allen wrote the novel ''Just Tell Me What You Want!'' in 1969, with the idea of turning it into a screenplay. After having trouble getting together a production, Allen sent it to Sidney Lumet, who surprisingly wanted to do it. In her opinion, Lumet was a wonderful structuralist but has his most difficult time with humorous dialogue; he hadn't found a way to shoot humorous dialogue as brilliantly as he shot everything else.


''Prince of the City''

When Allen read Robert Daley's book, ''Prince of the City'' (1978), she was convinced it was a Sidney Lumet project, but the film rights had already been sold to Orion Pictures for
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
and
David Rabe David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 ('' Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 ('' In the Boom Boom Room''), ...
. Allen let it be known that if that deal should fall through, then she wanted the picture for Sidney. Just as Lumet was about to sign for a different picture, they got the call that ''Prince of the City'' was theirs. Allen hadn't wanted to write ''
Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American neo-noir crime drama film directed and co-written by Sidney Lumet. The film follows Daniel Ciello, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for idealistic reasons, to expose corruption ...
'', just produce it. She was put off by the book's non-linear story structure, but Lumet wouldn't make the picture without her and agreed to write the outline for her. Lumet and Allen went over the book and agreed on what they could use and what they could do without. To her horror, Lumet would come in every day for weeks and scribble on legal pads. She was terrified that she would have to tell him that his stuff was unusable, but to her delight the outline was wonderful and she went to work. It was her first project with living subjects, and Allen interviewed nearly everyone in the book and had endless hours of Bob Leuci's tapes for back-up. With all her research and Lumet's outline, she eventually turned out a 365-page script in 10 days. It was nearly impossible to sell the studio on a three-hour picture, but by offering to slash the budget to $10 million they agreed. When asked if the original author ever has anything to say about how their book is treated, Allen replied: "Not if I can help it. You cannot open that can of worms. You sell your book, you go to the bank, you shut up."


''Deathtrap''

Allen adapted
Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), '' The Stepford Wives'' (1972), ''This Perfe ...
's play '' Deathtrap'' (1982) for Lumet, exchanging a weak, confusing ending for a more directly resolved one. Though not being able to do what a screenwriter needs to do to a play – "opening it up," taking it outside the original set or sets, make it bigger – she was limited to bookending the script with scenes in a New York theater. The plotting was so very tight, which is what the studio executives had wanted when they bought it. It was up to Allen to cut away the underbrush, simplifying the rhetoric as much as possible and adding some realism to the characters.


''La Cage Aux Folles''

Allen returned to the stage with an adaptation for
Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
of ''A Little Family Business'', a French boulevard comedy by
Pierre Barillet Pierre Barillet (24 August 1923 – 8 January 2019) was a French playwright. Biography Barillet was born in Paris, France. Passionate about theatre since childhood, he wrote his first play, ''Les Héritiers'', in 1945 after being a law student. ...
and
Jean-Pierre Gredy Jean-Pierre Grédy, often anglicised as Gredy (16 August 1920 – 6 February 2022) was a French playwright. Biography After studying literature and law, Grédy entered IDHEC because he wanted to write screenplays. He wrote the screenplay for ...
. She was also hired by Broadway producer
Allan Carr Allan Carr (born Allan Solomon; May 27, 1937 – June 29, 1999) was an American producer and manager of stage for the screen. Carr was nominated for numerous awards, winning a Tony Award and two People's Choice Awards, and was named Producer o ...
to adapt Jean Pioret's non-musical 1973 play '' La Cage Aux Folles'' as a musical reset in New Orleans. The never-to-be-produced production was called ''The Queen of Basin Street'', and was to be directed by
Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...
with
Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...
choreographing and
Maury Yeston Maury Yeston (born October 23, 1945) is an American composer, lyricist and music theorist. He is known as the initiator of new Broadway musicals and writing their music and lyrics, as well as a classical orchestral and ballet composer, Yale Uni ...
writing the songs. Nichols, who was a producing partner with Lewis Allen, eventually quit in a dispute over profits; Tommy Tune followed him and Carr fired Jay Allen. When Carr finally produced a musical version, Allen was forced to file suit for payment from her work on the adaptation.


''The Verdict''

"What I really like to do is a very swift rewrite for a great deal of money. Then I'm out of it. There's no emotional commitment at all – your name's not on it, you're home free", she would explain.
Twentieth-Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
brought Allen in for a rewrite when they were unhappy with the script that
David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
had produced from Barry Reed's novel ''
The Verdict ''The Verdict'' is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. It stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea, an ...
'', thinking he had deviated too much from the original material. She produced a script they were happy with, but then handed it to Robert Redford, who began to tinker it to fit his persona. Eventually the producers took it away from Redford and offered it to Lumet, who had just seen a production of Mamet's, ''
American Buffalo American Buffalo may refer to: *American Buffalo (play), ''American Buffalo'' (play), a play by David Mamet *American Buffalo (film), ''American Buffalo'' (film), a 1996 film of Mamet's play directed by Michael Corrente *American Buffalo (coin), a ...
'' with Al Pacino, and preferred to use Mamet's original script. In the end the studio had paid both Allen and Redford and ended up with Mamet's original script anyway.


''Hothouse''

Allen tried to recapture the success of ''Family'' with ''Hothouse'' for ABC in 1988; the drama about the lives and work experiences of the staff of a mental hospital lasted eight episodes. Personally Allen thought it was some of her best work, though its short life was a mixed blessing for her, said Allen: "Unfortunately, ABC didn't have the courage of their initial convictions. They skewered it, they turned tail on it. However if they had picked it up I'd have had to turn out 26 episodes. I'd be in Forest Lawn now. Television is a killer. It is really not for sissies."Gardner. 1991


''Tru''

The 1991 Broadway production of '' Tru'' starring
Robert Morse Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor, who starred in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', both the 1961 original Broadway production ...
as
Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
was actually a request of the lawyer for the Capote Estate. Allen was reluctant to write about Capote at first, but once she had researched him, she found the last ten years of his life not as off-putting as she had thought: "Capote had a kind of Gallantry in the face of a devastating situation." Friends of Capote were amazed at her accuracy portraying a man she had only met but not known, and there was much question about how many of the lines are Capote's and how many Allen's; she maintained that at least 70% of the dialogue is Capote's own.


Script doctor

When she wasn't writing, Allen and her husband were among the most visible of Manhattan's theater crowd. She would spend her later years as a script doctor and observing particularly salacious crime trials from the benches in Manhattan Criminal Court. Allen had just about given up writing any more movies from beginning to end, preferring to do lucrative rewrites. It had stopped being fun for her. Script 'development' translated to 'scripts written by committee', but the upside was that "developed" scripts tend to need rewrites – from outside the "development circle".
"A production rewrite means that the project is in production. Big money elements – directors, actors – are pay or play. There is a shooting date. The shit is in the fan. And that's where writers like me come in. Writers who are fast and reliable. We are nicely paid to do these production rewrites... and we love these jobs. Without credit? Never with credit. If you go for credit on somebody else's work, you have to completely dismantle the structure. Who wants a job where you have to completely dismantle the structure? I only take things that I think are in reasonable shape. The director and the producer and the studio may not necessarily agree with me, but I think the script is in reasonable shape. Besides, no one but the writer ever knows how much trouble any one piece of work will be. Only the writer knows that. Only the writer. So I take what looks to me like something that is in good enough shape, yet which I can contribute to and make it worth the pay they are going to give me... There are more than one of us out there. These jobs are quick, sometimes they're even fun, and you don't have to take the terrible meetings. They're not breathing on you. They're just desperate to get a script. I've never taken anything that I knew I couldn't help. They pay good money."
In 1986, she had signed an agreement with Lorimar-Telepictures in order to help develop, write and produce projects, in collaboration with ABC Entertainment. Her last film work was her screenplay for the 1990 remake of the classic, ''
Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...
''. However, she disliked the finished product and had her name removed. The trick in adapting, Allen said in a 1972 interview with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', "is not to throw out the baby with the bath water. You can change all kinds of things, but don't muck around with the essence."


Death

Jay Presson Allen died May 1, 2006 at her home in Manhattan following a stroke, aged 84.


Awards and honors

In 1982, Allen was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. The papers of Jay Presson Allen and her husband Lewis M. Allen are held at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
in Austin, Texas.


Credits


Novels

* ''Spring Riot'' (1948; as Jay Presson) * ''Just Tell Me What You Want'' (1975)


Film

* '' Wives and Lovers'' (1963; play ''The First Wife'') * ''
Marnie ''Marnie'' is an English crime novel, written by Winston Graham and first published in 1961. It has been adapted as a film, a stage play and an opera. Plot ''Marnie'' is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling her employers' funds, ...
'' (1964; screenplay) * '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969; screenplay; play) * ''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
'' (1972; screenplay) * '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1972; writer) * ''
40 Carats ''Forty Carats'' is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks down du ...
'' (1973; writer) * ''
Funny Lady ''Funny Lady'' is a 1975 American biographical musical comedy-drama film and the sequel to the 1968 film '' Funny Girl''. The film stars Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall and Ben Vereen. Herbert Ross, who helmed the musi ...
'' (1975; screenplay) * '' It's My Turn'' (1980; executive producer) * '' Just Tell Me What You Want'' (1980; screenplay from her novel; producer) * ''
Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American neo-noir crime drama film directed and co-written by Sidney Lumet. The film follows Daniel Ciello, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for idealistic reasons, to expose corruption ...
'' (1981; screenplay; executive producer) * '' Deathtrap'' (1982; screenplay; executive producer) * ''
Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...
'' (1990; under the pseudonym Sara Schiff)


as an uncredited script doctor

* '' Never Cry Wolf'' (1983; uncredited rewrite) * ''
Copycat Copycat refers to a person who copies some aspect of some thing or somebody else. Copycat may also refer to: Intellectual property rights * Copyright infringement, use of another’s ideas or words without permission * Patent infringement, a v ...
'' (1995; uncredited rewrite)


Stage plays

* '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1966), adaptation * '' Forty Carats'' (1968), adaptation * '' A Little Family Business'' (1982), adaptation * '' Tru'' (1989) and directed * '' The Big Love'' (1991) and directed * '' La Cage aux Folles'' (1995), uncredited adaptation


Television

* ''
Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: 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 Isla ...
'' (1953; writer of 2 episodes, "Surface Tension" and "Inside Straight" as Jay Presson) * ''
Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fi ...
'' (1954; writer of 1 episode "Brink of Disaster" as Jay Presson) * '' The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse'' (1954; teleplay writer of 1 episode "Beg, Borrow or Steal" as Jay Presson) * '' Star Tonight'' (1955; writer of 1 episode "The Dark Search" as Jay Presson) * '' Goodyear Playhouse'' (writer of 1 episode "Do It Yourself" as Jay Presson) * ''
The Borrowers ''The Borrowers'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author Mary Norton, published by Dent in 1952. It features a family of tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors of an English house and "borrow" from the big people in ...
'' (1973; teleplay) * ''
Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
'' pilot: "The Best Years" (1976; teleplay) * '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1978; teleplays) * '' Hothouse'' (1988; executive producer, creator) * '' American Playhouse: Tru'' (1992; teleplay)


References


Bibliography

* * * Crist, Judith (1984), ''Take 22: Moviemakers on Moviemaking'' (New York: Viking) * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Jay Presson Allen Papers
at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jay Presson 1922 births 2006 deaths Film producers from Texas 20th-century American novelists American women novelists American women screenwriters Screenwriters from Texas American television writers People from Fort Worth, Texas Writers Guild of America Award winners 20th-century American women writers American women film producers American women television writers Hockaday School alumni 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women