Ted Berkman (January 9, 1914 – May 12, 2006) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

author, screenwriter and journalist best known for writing the screenplay for ''

Bedtime for Bonzo ''Bedtime for Bonzo'' is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova and starring Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and a chimpanzee named Peggy as Bonzo. Its central character, a psychology professor (Reagan), tries to teach human morals t ...

''.

Early life and career

He was born Edward Oscar Berkmann in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1914. He grew up in a middle-class Jewish family and attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, graduating in 1933, and

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 ...

. Before World War II, he wrote a couple of film scripts and as a journalist for the ''

New York Daily Mirror The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and '' ...

''. During World War II, he worked as an intelligence officer for the US Army. After the war, Berkman worked as a foreign correspondent giving the first report of the explosion of the

King David Hotel The King David Hotel (; ) is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Opened in 1931, it was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish banker. It ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 1946 on ABC Radio. He later became an informal adviser to Edward Murrow on foreign affairs and appeared regularly on television programs.

Screenwriter

During the 1950s, Berkman worked primarily as a screenwriter. ''Bedtime for Bonzo'' was the first film he wrote during that period (with his brother-in-law Raphael Blau). The 1951 film became more famous during the 1980s when its star

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 ...

became US President. He also wrote the screen play for the 1957 movie ''

Fear Strikes Out ''Fear Strikes Out'' is a 1957 American biographical sports drama film depicting the life and career of American baseball All-Star player Jimmy Piersall. It is based on Piersall's 1955 memoir ''Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story'', co-writt ...

'' starring

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor. Born in Manhattan, Perkins began his career as a teenager in summer stock theater, summer stock programs, although he acted in films before his time on Broadway the ...

and based on the book written by professional baseball player

Jimmy Piersall James Anthony Piersall (November 14, 1929 – June 3, 2017) was an American baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967. Piersall was best known for his well-publicized b ...

about his mental illness. He wrote two more screenplays during the decade including

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

'' Edge of Fury'' in 1958 and '' Girl in the Night'' for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

in 1960.

Author

Berkman's first book ''

Cast a Giant Shadow ''Cast a Giant Shadow'' is a 1966 American action film based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus, and stars Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson. Melville Shavelson adapted, produced and di ...

'' was written about

Mickey Marcus David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus (February 22, 1901 – June 10, 1948) was a United States Army colonel, later Israel's first general, who was a principal architect of the U.S. military's World War II civil-affairs policies,Ossad, Steven L."Out of t ...

, a

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

graduate who advised the Israeli military during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1966 film starring

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

based on the book. His next book ''Sabra'' was based on the story of a dozen Israeli fighters in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

and was published in 1969. He wrote three more books during the 1970s including '' My Prisoner'', cowritten with Janey Jimenez about

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is an American actress and member of the Hearst family. She is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 197 ...

. His final book, a memoir, was published in 1998. Berkman died of cancer in 2006 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

References

''San Jose Mercury News'', "Screenwriter Ted Berkman dead at 92", May 30, 2006
* ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.

accessed May 30, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkman, Ted 1914 births 2006 deaths Screenwriters from New York City Jewish American screenwriters Cornell University alumni Deaths from cancer in California United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Writers from Brooklyn Jews from New York (state)