Leonard Spigelgass

Leonard Spigelgass (November 26, 1908 – February 15, 1985) was an American playwright, film producer and screenwriter. During his career, Spigelgass wrote the scripts for 11 Academy Award-winning films. He himself was nominated in 1950 for the story for '' Mystery Street'' and garnered three Writers Guild of America nominations over the course of his career. Spigelgass was also a friend of Gore Vidal who used Spigelgass as the model for Vidal's semi fictionary "wise hack" character in the latter's series of essays about Hollywood.

Biography

Life

Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, Spigelgass graduated from New York University in 1929. He was a literary and drama critic for ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and the ''Saturday Review of Literature'' before moving to Hollywood.

Fox

Spigelglass got his start collaborating on the script for Erich von Stroheim's '' Walking Down Broadway'' at Fox Films. After the film was shot, studio executives ordered the film to be re-edited and re-shot; it was released under the new title '' Hello, Sister!'' (1933). Spigelglass worked as assistant to Julian Josephson, head of story at Fox.

Spigelglass was also credited as writer on ''Stingaree'' (1934) and '' Escape to Paradise'' at RKO.

Universal

In December 1933, Spigelglass accepted a contract at Universal to work as scenario and story editor. While there, his story '' I'll Fix It'' (1934) was bought for Columbia.

In June 1934, Spigelglass was promoted to producer. His first film in that capacity was '' Princess O'Hara'' (1935), based on a story by Damon Runyon, which he helped write.

He became story editor for Major Pictures and wrote a film of the life of Madame Curie for Universal.

At Universal, he wrote for '' Letter of Introduction'' (1938), '' Service de Luxe'' (1938), '' Unexpected Father'' (1940), '' Private Affairs'' (1940), and ''The Boys from Syracuse'' (1940).

He produced the musical '' One Night in the Tropics'' (1940), the film debut of Abbott and Costello. He wrote '' Tight Shoes'' (1941) and '' Butch Minds the Baby'' (1942), based on a story by Runyon.

Warner Bros.

He wrote some films at Warner Bros., including ''Million Dollar Baby'' (1941) and '' All Through the Night'' (1942). He also wrote ''The Man They Couldn't Kill'' for Edward G. Robinson, but it was not made.

At RKO, Spigelglass wrote ''The Big Street'' (1942), based on a Runyon story, and '' They Got Me Covered'' (1942) for Bob Hope. He did '' The Youngest Profession'' (1943) at MGM. He also sold an original script to Fox titled ''No Place Like Home'', but it appears to have not been made.

World War II

Spigelgass served as a lieutenant colonel in World War II and, with Frank Capra, planned and produced ''Army and Navy Screen Magazine'', a bi-weekly, filmed news update for American troops abroad.

Paramount

He wrote ''For Her to See'' for Hal Wallis, which became '' So Evil My Love'' (1948). Also for Wallis, he wrote '' The Perfect Marriage'' (1947) and '' The Accused'' (1949), and he did '' I Was a Male War Bride'' (1949) for Fox.

In 1948, he was part of the Writers Guild fight against the blacklist. He sold ''Murder at Harvard'' to MGM, but it was not made.

MGM

Spigelglass signed a long-term contract at MGM where he wrote '' Mystery Street'' (1950), which earned him an Oscar nomination. He followed it with '' Night into Morning'' (1951), '' The Law and the Lady'' (1951), ''Because You're Mine'' (1952), '' Scandal at Scourie'' (1953), ''Athena'' (1954), and '' Deep in My Heart'' (1954). He produced a documentary series titled ''MGM Parade'', and wrote the musicals '' Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' (1957) and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). He wrote ''International Review'', meant to be an all-star musical, but it was not made. He left MGM when his boss Dore Schary was fired.

"When I left Hollywood in 1957, I was in the glue factory", he later said. "That I had written movies for many years meant nothing."

Broadway

Spigelglass moved to New York where he wrote for TV shows such as ''Playhouse 90'' and ''Climax!'', including a story of the life of Helen Morgan.

He wrote the play ''A Majority of One'' (1959), directed by Dore Schary. Starring Gertrude Berg, it was a hit and ran for 556 performances.

This reignited Hollywood's interest in Spigelglass. He returned to Hollywood and found himself treated with far more respect as the writer of a hit play than he had during his entire time there before.

"At the age of 50, I am an author and not a hack", he said.

He wrote the film adaptation of ''Majority of One'' and the big screen version of ''Gypsy'' (1962) both directed by Mervyn Le Roy. The film rights for ''Majority'' went for $500,000.

He returned to Broadway and wrote a series of plays, but none had the success of his first. A musical adaptation of '' Cafe Crown'' was not produced. ''The Free Thinkers'' was announced for 1961 but not made. ''Dear Me, The Sky Is Falling'' (1963) (originally titled ''Libby'') had a short run despite starring Gertrude Berg. ''Remedy for Winter'' (1965) (known as ''Upper Case''), ''Scuttle Under the Bonnet'' (1965) and ''The Playgirls'' (1966) did not make it to Broadway. ''The Wrong Way Light Bulb'' (1969) only had a short run. He wrote the book ''The Scuttle Under the Bonnet'' (1962).

He also wrote the book to the musical ''We've Done a Whole New Thing'' but it was not produced.

''Look to the Lilies'' (1970) based on '' Lilies of the Field'', but it only had a short run despite starring Shirley Booth. So too did '' Mack & Mabel'' (1974) based on an idea of Spigelglass.

Later career

In 1971, Spiegelgass joined the USC Cinema Department as an adjunct professor.

In the 1970s, Spigelgass wrote an ''ABC Afterschool Special'' and several Academy Award ceremonies.

He wrote the play ''Interview'' (1978), which had some productions.

Family

Spigelgass' sister, Beulah Roth, was a political speechwriter for Franklin Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson, and was married to photographer Sanford H. Roth, a close friend of James Dean. Spigelgass died in Los Angeles, California.

Selected filmography

*'' Hello, Sister!'' (1933)
*''Stingaree'' (1934)
*'' I'll Fix It'' (1935)
*'' Princess O'Hara'' (1935) – associate producer
*'' Letter of Introduction'' (1938)
* '' Service de Luxe'' (1938)
*'' Unexpected Father'' (1939)
*'' Private Affairs'' (1940)
*''The Boys from Syracuse'' (1940)
*'' One Night in the Tropics'' (1940) – associate producer
*''Million Dollar Baby'' (1941) – based on his story ""Miss Wheelwright Discovers America""
*'' Tight Shoes'' (1941)
*'' All Through the Night'' (1942)
* '' Butch Minds the Baby'' (1942)
*''The Big Street'' (1942) – also associate producer
*'' The Youngest Profession'' (1943)
*'' They Got Me Covered'' (1943) – original story
*'' The Perfect Marriage'' (1947)
*'' So Evil My Love'' (1948)
*'' The Accused'' (1949)
*'' I Was a Male War Bride'' (1949)
*'' Mystery Street'' (1950) – story
*'' Night Into Morning'' (1951)
*'' The Law and the Lady'' (1951)
*''Because You're Mine'' (1952)
*'' Scandal at Scourie'' (1953)
*''Athena'' (1954)
*'' Deep in My Heart'' (1954)
*''MGM Parade'' (1955–56) – director
*'' Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' (1957)
*''Playhouse 90'' – episodes "Eloise, "One Coat of White", "The Helen Morgan Story"
*''Silk Stockings'' (1957)
*''Climax!'' – episodes "A Man of Taste", "Mr Runyon of Broadway", "Along Came a Spider"
*'' Pepe'' (1960)
*''A Majority of One'' (1961) – also based on his play
*''Gypsy'' (1962)
*'' ABC Afterschool Specials'' – episode "Cyrano" (1974)
*''20th Century Fox Presents... A Tribute to Darryl F. Zanuck'' (1974)
*''48th Academy Awards'' (1976)
*'' 50th Academy Awards'' (1978)
*''52nd Academy Awards'' (1980)
*''54th Academy Awards'' (1982)
*''55th Academy Awards'' (1983)

Theatre credits

*''A Majority of One'' (1959–60) – writer
*''Dear Me, The Sky is Falling'' (1963) – writer
*''The Playgirls'' (1966)
*''The Wrong Way Light Bulb'' (1969) – writer
*''Look to the Lilies'' (1970) – author of book of musical based on '' Lilies of the Field''
*'' Mack & Mabel'' (1974) – based on idea

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spigelgass, Leonard
American male screenwriters
Film producers from New York (state)
American television writers
20th-century American Jews
Writers from Brooklyn
1908 births
1985 deaths
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male television writers
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters