Mardik Martin (September 16, 1934 – September 11, 2019) was an Armenian American

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 ...

, known for '' Mean Streets'', ''

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

'' and ''

Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto (in his final film role). The film ...

–'' all directed by his lifelong friend

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

and starring

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

. Mardik Martin is among the revered screenwriters on Writers Guild of America list of 101 Greatest Screenplays.Parajanov-Vartanov Institute
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Early life

Mardik Martin was born into a family of Armenian genocide survivors that fled to Abadan, Iran. They later moved to Iraq. Although his family in Iraq was wealthy, he fled the country to avoid the draft and arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in a penniless state.

Career

Martin attended NYU, where he met fellow student

in 1961. The two formed a close friendship and worked together on Scorsese's early projects such as '' It's Not Just You, Murray!'' and the semi-autobiographical ''Season of the Witch'', which ultimately became '' Mean Streets''. According to Hollywood biographer Peter Biskind, "The two young men sat in Martin's Plymouth Valiant and wrote. In the winter, in the cold and snow." Martin also shared writing credits on the Scorsese films ''

'' (with Earl Mac Rauch) and ''

'' (with

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

). In 2014, Martin co-wrote the screenplay of the German drama '' The Cut'', which won a special mention by the Young Jury Members of the Vittorio Veneto Film Festival for its director Fatih Akin at the 2014 Venice Film Festival.

Death

Martin died of unknown causes on September 11, 2019. He was found dead in his house five days before his 85th birthday.

Awards

In 2012, Martin was honored by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute "for the mastery of his pen on iconic American films" such as ''Mean Streets'' and ''Raging Bull''.Hollywood Reporter
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Early life

Career

Death

Awards

Filmography

References

Further reading