Biography
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (November 7, 1897 – March 5, 1953; New York City) was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Herman Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York". Both Mankiewicz and Welles received Academy Awards for their screenplay. Mankiewicz's younger brother was Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993), an Oscar-winning Hollywood director, screenwriter, and producer. His nephew Tom Mankiewicz (1942 – 2010) was also a screenwriter and director.
He was often asked to fix the screenplays of other writers, with much of his work uncredited. Occasional flashes of what came to be called the "Mankiewicz humor" and satire distinguished his films, and became valued in the films of the 1930s. The style of writing included a slick, satirical, and witty humor, which depended almost totally on dialogue to carry the film. It was a style that would become associated with the "typical American film" of that period. Among the screenplays he wrote or worked on, besides "Citizen Kane", were "The Wizard of Oz", "Man of the World", "Dinner at Eight", "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.".
Mankiewicz was an alcoholic. Ten years before his death, he wrote: “I seem to become more and more of a rat in a trap of my own construction, a trap that I regularly repair whenever there seems to be danger of some opening that will enable me to escape. I haven’t decided yet about making it bomb proof. It would seem to involve a lot of unnecessary labor and expense". A future Hollywood biographer went so far as to suggest that Mankiewicz’s behavior “made him seem erratic even by the standards of Hollywood drunks.” Herman Mankiewicz died March 5, 1953, of uremic poisoning, at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.
Filmography
all 101
Movies 100
Writer 71
Screenplay 9
Producer 5
TV Shows 1
Lux Video Theatre (1950)
A Woman's Secret (1949)
The Spanish Main (1945)
The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
Christmas Holiday (1944)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Comrade X (1940)
The Ghost Comes Home (1940)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Suzy (1936)
Escapade (1935)
After Office Hours (1935)
Stamboul Quest (1934)
Operator 13 (1934)
The Show-Off (1934)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
Fast Workers (1933)
Horse Feathers (1932)
Million Dollar Legs (1932)
Girl Crazy (1932)
Monkey Business (1931)
Dude Ranch (1931)
Ladies' Man (1931)
The Front Page (1931)
Man of the World (1931)
The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)
Laughter (1930)
True to the Navy (1930)
Honey (1930)
The Mighty (1929)
Fast Company (1929)
Thunderbolt (1929)
The Dummy (1929)
The Love Doctor (1929)
What a Night! (1928)
Three Week Ends (1928)
Avalanche (1928)
Take Me Home (1928)
The Barker (1928)
The Drag Net (1928)
Love and Learn (1928)
Serenade (1927)
Two Flaming Youths (1927)
Honeymoon Hate (1927)
The City Gone Wild (1927)
Stranded in Paris (1926)
Gallery
Information
Known ForWriting
GenderMale
Birthday1897-11-07
Deathday1953-03-05 (55 years old)
Birth PlaceNew York City, United States
ChildrenFrank Mankiewicz, Don Mankiewicz
SiblingsJoseph L. Mankiewicz
CitizenshipsUnited States
Also Known AsHerman Jacob Mankiewicz, Герман Джейкоб Манкевич
AwardsAcademy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay
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