Life and career
Born in Romania, into a non-observing Jewish family, in 1882, Konrad Bercovici grew up chiefly in Galaţi. His family was polyglot, teaching their children Greek, Romanian, French and German, and they mixed freely with Greeks, Romanians, Russians, Turks, Jews, and Roma that moved throughout Dobrudja and the Danubian Delta region. According to his autobiography, Bercovici especially developed a close connection with local Roma through contact with his Roma nursemaid, her family, and the Roma with whom his father traded horses. The family remained in Romania until his father died from injuries sustained during anti-Semitic riots in Galaţi when Bercovici was 11. After his father's death, most of the family emigrated to Paris. Konrad worked there during preparations for theBibliography
*''Crimes of Charity'' (1917) *''Dust of New York'' (1919) *''Ghitza and Other Romances of Gypsy Blood'' (1921) *''Gypsy Blood'' (1922) London *''Murdo'' (1923) *''Love and the Gypsy'' (1923) London *''Around The World In New York'' (1924) *''Iliana: Stories of a Wandering Race'' (1924) *''Costa's Daughter'' (1924) *''Between Earth and Sky'' (1925) *''Best Short Stories of the World'' (1925) *''The Marriage Guest'' (1925) *''On New Shores'' (1925) *''Singing Winds: Stories of Gipsy Life'' (1926) *''The Volga Boatman'' (1926) *''Alexander: A Romantic Biography'' (1928) *''The Story of the Gypsies'' (1928) *''Nights Abroad'' (1928) *''Peasants'' (1928) *''There's Money in Poetry'' (1928) *''Between Earth And Sky'' (1929) *''The Crusades'' (1929) *''The Power of Women'' (1929) *''Steel Against Steel'' (1929) *''Stormy Hearts'' (1929) *''Wine, Women and Song'' (1929) *''Blood and Lava'' (1930) *''Land, an Old Man and His Wife'' (1930) *''For Love of Zaska and Other Stories'' (1930) *''When Faith in Love Returns'' (1930) *''For a Song'' (1931) *''Manhattan Side-Show'' (1931) *''That Royal Lover'' (1931) *''Against the Sky'' (1932) *''The Incredible Balkans'' (1932) *''Main Entrance'' (1932) *''A Romany Chai'' (1933) London *''It's the Gypsy in Me'' (1941) *''The Exodus'' (1947) *''Savage Prodigal'' (1948) *''Gypsies, Their Life, Lore and Legends'' (1983)''Bercovici v. Chaplin''
The Charlie Chaplin hit '' The Great Dictator'' (1940) was the subject of a plagiarism lawsuit (''Bercovici v. Chaplin'') in 1947 against Chaplin. The case was settled, with Chaplin paying Konrad Bercovici $90,000, plus $5,000 expenses. In return, Bercovici acknowledged that Chaplin was the sole author of the film and was given exclusive rights to the screenplay, as well as two others by Bercovici. In his autobiography, Chaplin insisted that he had been the sole writer of the movie's script. He came to a settlement, though, because of his "unpopularity in the States at that moment and being under such court pressure, ewas terrified, not knowing what to expect next." Bercovici was represented in his plagiarism suit by attorney Louis Nizer. In his book '' My Life in Court'' Nizer goes into detail about ''Bercovici v. Chaplin'': "The claim was that Chaplin had approached Bercovici to produce one of his gypsy stories as a motion picture and in the course of those friendly negotiations Bercovici gave him an outline of "The Great Dictator" story about a barber who looks like Hitler and is confused with him. Chaplin denied ever having negotiated for the gypsy story and also denied the rest of the claim...One day, upon my continuous inquiry, Bercovici suddenly had a flash of memory. He recalled that he had met Chaplin in a theater in Hollywood and that Chaplin had pointed out a Russian baritone in the audience whom he thought might play the leading role in the gypsy story. Bercovici believed that they spoke to the singer that evening and that he might possibly be a witness." Nizer tracked down Kushnevitz, the Russian baritone at issue: "He ushnevitzrecalled the incident vividly, for this, as he put it, was one of the great moments in his life - the possibility that he would star in a Chaplin picture. Chaplin had called him down the aisle of the theater and had given him his private telephone number. He pulled out a little black book from his back pocket and he still had the number written in it. He was a perfect witness in view of Chaplin's denial of any interest in Bercovici's gypsy story."Louis Nizer, My Life in Court (Rum and Coca Cola: 1944) pp. 9-10.References
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