Budd Schulberg

Budd Schulberg
Schulberg in 1954
Born	Seymour Wilson Schulberg March 27, 1914(1914-03-27) New York City, New York, United States
Died	August 5, 2009 (aged 95) Westhampton Beach, New York, United States
Occupation	Film writer, sports writer, novelist
Writing period	1937 – 1982
Spouse(s)	Virginia Ray (1936 - 1942) Virginia Anderson (1943 - 1964) Geraldine Brooks (1964 - 1977) Betsey Langman (1978 - 2009)

Budd Schulberg (March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the Crowd.

Early life

Born as Seymour Wilson Schulberg, he was the son of B. P. Schulberg, head of Paramount Pictures and Adeline Jaffe-Schulberg, sister to agent/film producer Sam Jaffe.

Schulberg attended Deerfield Academy and then went on to Dartmouth College, where he was actively involved in the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine. In 1939 he collaborated on the screenplay for Winter Carnival, a light comedy set at Dartmouth. One of his collaborators was F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was fired because of his alcoholic binge during a visit with Schulberg to Dartmouth.^[1] Dartmouth College awarded Schulberg an honorary degree in 1960.

World War II

While serving in the Navy during World War II, Schulberg was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), working with John Ford's documentary unit. Following VE Day, he was among the first American servicemen to liberate the Nazi-run concentration camps.^[2] He was involved in gathering evidence against war criminals for the Nuremberg Trials, an assignment that included arresting documentary film maker Leni Riefenstahl at her chalet in Kitzbühel, Austria, ostensibly to have her identify the faces of Nazi war criminals in German film footage captured by the Allied troops.^[3]

Career

In 1950, Schulberg published The Disenchanted, about a young screenwriter who collaborates on a screenplay about a college winter festival with a famous novelist at the nadir of his career. The novelist (who at the time was assumed by reviewers to be a thinly disguised portrait of Fitzgerald, who had died ten years earlier) is portrayed as a tragic and flawed figure, with whom the young screenwriter becomes disillusioned. The novel was the 10th bestselling novel in the United States in 1950^[4] and was adapted as a Broadway play in 1958, starring Jason Robards, Jr. (who won a Tony Award for his performance) and George Grizzard as the character loosely based on Schulberg. In 1958, Schulberg wrote and co-produced (with his younger brother, Stuart) the film Wind Across the Everglades, directed by Nicholas Ray.

Schulberg encountered political controversy in 1951 when screenwriter Richard Collins, testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee, named Schulberg as a former member of the Communist Party.^[5] Schulberg testified as a friendly witness that Party members had sought to influence the content of What Makes Sammy Run and "named names" of other Hollywood communists.^[6]

Schulberg was also a sports writer and former chief boxing correspondent for Sports Illustrated. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002 in recogniton of his contributions to the sport.^{[citation needed]}

In 1965, after a devastating riot had ripped apart the fabric of the Watts section of Los Angeles, Schulberg formed the Watts Writers Workshop in an attempt to ease frustrations and bring artistic training to the economically impoverished district.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life and death

Schulberg at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

Schulberg's third marriage, to actress Geraldine Brooks, ended with her death; they had no children. He is survived by his fourth wife, the former Betsy Ann Langman, and his five children: Victoria (by first wife), Stephen and David (by second wife), Benn and Jessica (by fourth wife). His niece Sandra Schulberg^[7] was an executive producer of the Academy Award nominated film Quills, among other movies.

Budd Schulberg died in his home in Westhampton, New York, aged 95. According to his widow Betsy, Schulberg died after being rushed to hospital from his Long Island home.

References

External links

• Budd Schulberg at the Internet Movie Database
• "Paid Death Notices: Budd Schulberg". Associated Press. 5 Aug 2009. http://www.legacy.com/NYTimes/DeathNotices.asp?page=lifestory&personid=131008795. 
• Weiner, Tim (5 Aug 2009). "Budd Schulberg, ‘On the Waterfront’ Writer, Dies at 95". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/movies/06schulberg.html. 
• "Obituary: Budd Schulberg". The Daily Telegraph. 6 Aug 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/5984614/Budd-Schulberg.html. 
• Channel 4 News interview with Budd Schulberg, February 2009
• 1998 interview with Schulberg about On the Waterfront
• "The Priest Who Made Budd Schulberg Run: 'On the Waterfront' and Jesuit Social Action", Inside Fordham Online, May 2003
• "Corruption Found at Waterfront Watchdog" New York Times, Aug. 12, 2009. Article mentions Schulberg and his book On the Waterfront in noting similarity to recent allegations.