Herman J. Mankiewicz
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (/ˈmæŋkəwɪts/; November 7, 1897 – March 5, 1953) was an American screenwriter who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Both Mankiewicz and Welles would go on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film. He was previously a Berlin correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily, assistant theater editor at The New York Times, and the first regular drama critic at The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York".
Herman J. Mankiewicz | |
|---|---|
Mankiewicz in the 1940s | |
| Born | Herman Jacob Mankiewicz November 7, 1897 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | March 5, 1953 (aged 55) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1926–1952 |
| Spouse |
Sara Aaronson (m. 1920) |
| Children | 3, including Don Mankiewicz and Frank Mankiewicz |
| Family | Joseph L. Mankiewicz (brother) See Mankiewicz family |
Mankiewicz was often asked to fix other writers' screenplays, with much of his work uncredited. His writing style became valued in the films of the 1930s—a style that included a slick, satirical, and witty humor, in which dialogue almost totally carried the film, and which eventually become associated with the "typical American film" of that period.: 219 In addition to Citizen Kane, he wrote or worked on films including The Wizard of Oz, Man of the World, Dinner at Eight, The Pride of the Yankees and The Pride of St. Louis.
Film critic Pauline Kael credits Mankiewicz with having written, alone or with others, "about forty of the films I remember best from the twenties and thirties...He was a key linking figure in just the kind of movies my friends and I loved best.": 247 Nearly seventy years after his death, Mankiewicz was portrayed by actor Gary Oldman in the 2020 Oscar-winning film Mank.