George Seligman Oppenheimer (February 7, 1900 in New York City – August 14, 1977) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and journalist.[1]
Career
editIn 1925, Oppenheimer cofounded The Viking Press, but becoming more interested in writing than publishing, he began a career as a screenwriter in Hollywood in 1933, hired to complete the screenplay of Samuel Goldwyn's comedy Roman Scandals (1933). For the rest of the 1930s he was employed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, primarily as a script doctor, rewriting, editing or polishing existing scripts.
Oppenheimer was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on The War Against Mrs. Hadley at the 15th Academy Awards of 1942.[2]
His contributions to theater criticism are recognized by the Newsday George Oppenheimer Award, which was awarded annually from 1979 to 2007 to the best New York debut production by an American playwright for a non-musical play.[3]
Oppenheimer graduated from Williams College and studied at Harvard University with George Pierce Baker. He joined Newsday in 1955 to write the weekly "On Stage" column, became a daily critic in 1963, and was named Sunday drama critic in 1972.[4]
Oppenheimer, a homosexual, never married. Oppenheimer was the occasional sexual partner of the young Harry Hay; the pair met while cruising on Hollywood Boulevard.[5][6]
Selected filmography
edit- Roman Scandals (1933)
- Rendezvous (1935)
- Libeled Lady (1936)
- We Went to College (1936)
- London by Night (1937)
- The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
- Married Before Breakfast (1937)
- I'll Take Romance (1937)
- A Day at the Races (1937)
- Three Loves Has Nancy (1938)
- The Crowd Roars (1938)
- A Yank at Oxford (1938)
- Paradise for Three (1938)
- Man-Proof (1938)
- Honolulu (1939)
- Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
- I Love You Again (1940)
- Two-Faced Woman (1941)
- The Big Store (1941)
- The Feminine Touch (1941)
- The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942)
- Pacific Rendezvous (1942)
- A Yank at Eton (1942)
- Slightly Dangerous (1943)
- The Youngest Profession (1943)
- Killer McCoy (1947)
- Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
- Born to Be Bad (1950)
- Perfect Strangers (1950)
- Anything Can Happen (1952)
- Decameron Nights (1953)
- Tonight We Sing (1953)
Publications
edit- The Passionate Playgoer. A Personal Scrapbook, 1958 (editor)
- The View from the Sixties: Memories of a Spent Life, 1966
References
edit- ^ "OPPENHEIMER, GEORGE". Rodgers and Hammerstein. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
- ^ "Search Nominations". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Simonson, Robert (October 7, 2004). "Will Eno's Flu Season Wins 2004 George Oppenheimer Award". Playbill. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
- ^ "OPPENHEIMER, GEORGE". Rodgers and Hammerstein. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- ^ Broken Face In The Mirror (Crooks and Fallen Stars That Look Very Much Like Us). Dorrance Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-4349-4723-9.
- ^ Nicholas C. Edsall (September 29, 2003). Toward Stonewall: Homosexuality and Society in the Modern Western World. University of Virginia Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-8139-2396-3.
External links
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