Paul D. Zimmerman (July 3, 1938 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 ...
,
New York – March 2, 1993 in
Princeton,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
)
was a screenwriter, film critic and activist.
Biography
He was a film critic for ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' magazine from 1967 to 1975,
and wrote for television shows including ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'', but is best known for writing ''
The King of Comedy'' (1982), directed by
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 ...
. He was the co-writer of ''
Lovers and Liars'' (1979) and ''
Consuming Passions'' (1988). Zimmerman was the author of many other screenplays, mostly unproduced, as well as three books:
* ''The Marx Brothers at the Movies'' (1968)
* ''The Year the Mets Lost Last Place'' (1969)
* ''The Open Man: The Championship Diary of the N.Y. Knicks'' (1970)
Active in the Nuclear Freeze movement, he founded the Bucks Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament, funded by the proceeds from a sold-out premiere he organised for ''King of Comedy''. In 1984, he managed to become a member of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican Party convention in order to be the only delegate to vote against
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.
Zimmerman died of colon cancer.
Accolades
References
External links
*
Paul D. Zimmermanat
Goodreads
Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...
*
Paul D. Zimmermanat Cinephilia and Beyond
Paul D. Zimmermanon ''
The David Letterman Show''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Paul D.
1938 births
1993 deaths
American anti–nuclear weapons activists
American film critics
American male screenwriters
Amherst College alumni
Deaths from cancer in New Jersey
Screenwriters from New York City
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award winners