Joseph Albert Fields (February 21, 1895 – March 4, 1966)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California
ancestry.com
/ref> was an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and film producer.

Life and career

Fields was born in New York City, the son of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

an Lew Fields. He graduated from

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

and attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

before enrolling in the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

during World War I, after which he remained in Paris until 1922 working in the perfume business. He moved to Los Angeles in 1930, and his early writing career was spent churning out screenplays for mostly

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s, beginning with ''The Big Shot'' in 1931. Fields made his Broadway debut in 1938 with the play ''Schoolhouse on the Lot'', co-written with Jerome Chodorov, who became a frequent collaborator. The prolific pair went on to write '' My Sister Eileen'' (1940, based on

Ruth McKenney Ruth Marguerite McKenney (November 18, 1911 – July 25, 1972) was an American author and journalist, best remembered for ''My Sister Eileen'', a memoir of her experiences growing up in Ohio and moving to Greenwich Village with her sister Eileen ...

's semi-autobiographical stories), '' Junior Miss'' (1941, based on Sally Benson's stories), ''The French Touch'' (1945), '' Wonderful Town'' (1953, based on

's semi-autobiographical stories), '' The Girl in Pink Tights'' (1954), '' Anniversary Waltz'' (1954), and ''The Ponder Heart'' (1956). They also wrote the screenplay for the 1942 film adaptation of ''My Sister Eileen''. With Anita Loos, Fields wrote the book for the

Jule Styne Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequ ...

musical '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', and he collaborated with

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...

on the book for ''

Flower Drum Song ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical theatre, musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, ''The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee (author), C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway the ...

''. He also co-produced and wrote the screen adaptation of the latter, garnering a

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

Award nomination for Best Written American Musical. Fields won the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

for ''Wonderful Town'' and was nominated in the same category for ''Flower Drum Song''. As a director, Fields helmed

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's '' The Man Who Had All the Luck'' (1944), his own plays ''I Gotta Get Out'' (1947) and ''The Tunnel of Love'' (1957), and ''The Desk Set'' (1955). Fields was the brother of writer/lyricist Dorothy and writer Herbert. He died in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

; according to his obituary in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "Joseph Fields...died here last night...Mr. Fields lived in New York but was wintering in California when he died."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Joseph 1895 births 1966 deaths Jewish American military personnel Jewish American screenwriters 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Film producers from New York (state) American male screenwriters American theatre directors Tony Award winners American male dramatists and playwrights Writers from New York City United States Army personnel of World War I DeWitt Clinton High School alumni New York University alumni 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews