Portrait of Peter Feibleman LCCN2004662866

Peter Feibleman (August 1, 1930August 23, 2015) was an American author and screenwriter. He won critical acclaim for his novels and received multiple awards for his writings, including a Guggenheim Award in 1960 and a Golden Pen Award in 1983. He also wrote a number of plays and screenplays.

Life

Feibleman was born in 1930 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 ...

to James Kern Feibleman, an author and university professor, and Dorothy Steinam. He was raised in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He studied acting at the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

and also attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He was a member of P.E.N. and resided in

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, ...

Career

Starting in 1940, Feibleman worked as an actor in radio. From 1951 to 1957, he worked as an actor in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He began writing in 1958. Feibleman was a co-founder of DBA, a screenplay consulting firm. Feibleman finished his first literary work, ''A Place without Twilight'', in 1958. The book was met with critical acclaim by the '' Saturday Review'' and other publications. Many of his other works were received well by critics.

Relationship with Lillian Hellman

Feibleman was

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...

's long-time lover and friend, although she was older than his own mother. He was the dedicatee of ''

Pentimento In painting, a ; from the verb , meaning 'to repent'; plural ''pentimenti'') is "the presence or emergence of earlier images, forms, or strokes that have been changed and painted over". Sometimes the English form "pentiment" is used, especiall ...

'', and was her principal heir and literary executor.Peter Feibleman, ''Lilly: Reminiscences of Lillian Hellman'', 1989, Part III: 'How Do You Kill October?', Ch, IV, p. 178

Awards

*Guggenheim Award for creative writing (1960) *Golden Pen Award for screenwriting (1983)

Selected bibliography

Memoir

*''Lilly: Reminiscences of Lillian Hellman'' (1988)

Novels

*''A Place without Twilight'' (1958) *''The Daughters of Necessity'' (1959) *''Strangers and Graves: Four Short Novels'' (''Death of Danaues'', ''Fever'', ''Along the Coast'', ''Eyes'') (1966) *''The Columbus Tree'' (1973) *''Charlie Boy'' (1980)

Other writings

*'' Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright'' (based on ''A Place without Twilight'', 1962) *'' Ensign Pulver'' (screenplay, 1964) * ''

Profiles in Courage ''Profiles in Courage'' is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States senators. The book, authored by John F. Kennedy with Ted Sorensen as a ghostwriter, profiles senators who defied th ...

'' (TV series, 1964, episode 2 "Mary S. McDowell") * ''His Eye is On the Sparrow'' (screenplay, 1969) *''The Bayous'' (1973) * ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...

'' (TV series, 1976, season 6, episode 1 "Fade in to Murder" & episode 2 "Old Fashioned Murder") * ''Maid in America'' (TV movie, 1982) *''Cakewalk'' (play, 1998)

References

Sources

''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2009. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center''. Farmington Hills, Michigan, Gale, 2009Peter Feibleman profile at the Biography Reference Bank

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feibleman, Peter 1930 births 2015 deaths American male screenwriters 20th-century American novelists American memoirists American dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from New York City Carnegie Mellon University alumni Columbia University alumni