Norma Levor Barzman (September 15, 1920 – December 17, 2023) was an American journalist, screenwriter, actress and novelist who was active in the film industry in the

Golden Age of Hollywood Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome, Stroud#Golden Val ...

Life and career

Barzman was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family on September 15, 1920, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City. She attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. She started her career in 1946 writing the original story for '' Never Say Goodbye'' and '' The Locket''. Later, she also wrote ''

Finishing School A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

'' (1952) and '' Il triangolo rosso'' (1967). Barzman also appeared as an actress in ''

Theatre 70 ''Theatre 70'' is a 70-minute UK dramatic television anthology series produced by Associated Television. Twenty-five episodes aired on ITV from 1960–61. Guest actors included Zoe Caldwell, Robert Horton, André Morell, Georgina Ward and Ma ...

'' (1970) and ''Pajama Party'' (2000) as the Groovy Grandma guest.

Personal life

Barzman married mathematician

Claude Shannon Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, computer scientist, cryptographer and inventor known as the "father of information theory" and the man who laid the foundations of th ...

, known as the " father of information theory", and lived with him in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

. When they divorced, Barzman moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with her mother and took classes at the School for Writers, the members of which were leftist. She met and married screenwriter

Ben Barzman Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and known best for his screenplays for the movies '' Back to Bataan'' (1945), ''El Cid'' (1961), and ...

. Having been blacklisted from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

between the years 1949 and 1976, they lived in London, Paris, and on the

French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

Mougins Mougins (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southeastern France. It is located on the heights of Cannes, in the arrondissement of Grasse. Mougins is a 15-minute drive from Ca ...

. They had seven children. Barzman died at her home in

Beverly Hills, California 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 Hills ...

, on December 17, 2023, at the age of 103.

Filmography

Writer

* '' Il triangolo rosso'' (1967) * ''

'' (1952) * '' The Locket'' (1946) * '' Never Say Goodbye'' (1946)

Actress

* ''Pajama Party'' (2000) - Groovy Grandma guest * ''

'' (1960) - Narrator

Documentary

* ''Les exilés d'Hollywood'' (2006) * ''Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust'' (2004)

Books

* ''The End of Romance: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and the Mystery of the Violin'' (2006) * ''The Red and the Blacklist: The Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate'' (2002) * ''Rich Dreams'' (1982)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barzman, Norma 1920 births 2023 deaths American women screenwriters Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American actresses 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American actresses Hollywood blacklist Screenwriters from New York City People from Beverly Hills, California 20th-century American women writers American women centenarians