"the ""Ben-Hur"" screenplay, on location in Italy, Vidal negotiated the early termination (at the two-year mark) of his four-year contract with MGM. Thirty-six years later, in the documentary film ""The Celluloid Closet"" (1995), Vidal explained that Messala's failed attempt at resuming their homosexual, boyhood relationship motivated the ostensibly political enmity between Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd), that Boyd was aware of the homosexual subtext to the scene and that the director, the producer and the screenplay writer agreed to keep Heston ignorant of the subtext, lest he refuse to play the scene. In turn, on learning of that"
"words ""like high-precision weapons"". On August 23, 2012, in the program a ""Memorial for Gore Vidal in Manhattan"", the life and works of the writer Gore Vidal were celebrated at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, with a revival of ""The Best Man: A Play About Politics"" (1960). The writer and comedian Dick Cavett was host of the Vidalian celebration, which featured personal reminiscences about and performances of excerpts from the works of Gore Vidal by friends and colleagues, such as Elizabeth Ashley, Candice Bergen and Hillary Clinton, Alan Cumming, James Earl Jones and Elaine May, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Cybill Shepherd"
"alcoholism. On July 31, 2012 Vidal died of pneumonia at his home in the Hollywood Hills at the age of 86. A memorial service was held for him at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City on August 23, 2012. He was buried next to Howard Austen in Rock Creek Cemetery, in Washington, D.C. Postmortem opinions and assessments of Gore as a writer varied. ""The New York Times"" described him as ""an Augustan figure who believed himself to be the last of a breed, and he was probably right. Few American writers have been more versatile, or gotten more"
"and Liz Smith. Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his patrician manner, epigrammatic wit, and polished style of writing. Vidal was born to a political family; his maternal grandfather, Thomas Pryor Gore, served as United States senator from Oklahoma (1907–1921 and 1931–1937). He was a Democratic Party politician who twice sought elected office; first to the United States House of Representatives (New York, 1960), then to the U.S. Senate (California, 1982). As a political commentator and essayist, Vidal's principal"
"Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his patrician manner, epigrammatic wit, and polished style of writing. Vidal was born to a political family; his maternal grandfather, Thomas Pryor Gore, served as United States senator from Oklahoma (1907–1921 and 1931–1937). He was a Democratic Party politician who twice sought elected office; first to the United States House of Representatives (New York, 1960), then to the U.S. Senate (California, 1982). As a political commentator and essayist, Vidal's principal subject was the"
"Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia is a 2013 documentary film about the life and career of author Gore Vidal. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2013. The film is a commentary on Vidal's professional and personal life, and the impact he had in art and politics. It includes exclusive interviews with Vidal, as well as figures such as Burr Steers and Christopher Hitchens. The film was well received by critics. It received a 72 rating from Metacritic and , it had an 80% ranking at Rotten Tomatoes. The film won"
"Eugene Vale Eugene Vale (11 April 1916 – 2 May 1997) was a best-selling American novelist. He was also a screenwriter, a playwright, and the author of an influential volume on screenwriting. Vale was born in Switzerland, but worked in Paris during the 1930s. He moved to the United States after the outbreak of World War II. Vale worked in Hollywood and also as a lecturer on film and television writing at the University of Southern California. In 1997, Vale died at home in Los Angeles at age 81. Vale's screenplays included ""The Second Face"" (1950), Francis of Assisi"" (1961)"
"his novels for six years. Modern scholars note the importance of the novel to the visibility of gay literature. Michael Bronski points out that ""gay-male-themed books received greater critical attention than lesbian ones"" and that ""writers such as Gore Vidal were accepted as important American writers, even when they received attacks from homophobic critics."" Ian Young notes that social disruptions of World War II changed public morals, and lists ""The City and the Pillar"" among a spate of war novels that use the military as backdrop for overt homosexual behavior. Other notable works of the 1940s and 1950s include Jean"
"S. Burroughs' ""Naked Lunch"", Allen Ginsberg's ""Howl"", and Jack Kerouac's ""On the Road"". This decade is also marked by some of the most famous works of science fiction by science fiction writers Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. van Vogt, and Robert A. Heinlein. Other significant literary works of the decade included: Though it was not published until 1960, John Updike's ""Rabbit, Run"" was written during and exemplifies the culture of the 1950s. The novel ""Revolutionary Road"" by Richard Yates, published in 1961, is concerned with mid-1950s life and culture. Sylvia Plath's ""The Bell Jar"","
"magazine ""Ideal"" said that Vidal's death was a loss to the ""culture of the United States"", and described him as a ""great American novelist and essayist"". In ""The Writer Gore Vidal is Dead in Los Angeles"", the online edition of the Italian newspaper ""Corriere della Sera"" described the novelist as ""the ""enfant terrible"" of American culture"" and that he was ""one of the giants of American literature"". In ""Gore Vidal: The Killjoy of America"", the French newspaper ""Le Figaro"" said that the public intellectual Vidal was ""the killjoy of America"" but that he also was an ""outstanding polemicist"" who used"
"the deliriously bad John Wayne-Susan Hayward barbarian epic ""The Conqueror"" (1956), a film probably more famous now for filming in a nuclear bomb testing site and most of the cast and crew succumbing to early, cancer-related deaths. After that, Millard found consistent work on television, writing scripts for such shows as ""Wagon Train"", ""The Alfred Hitchcock Hour"" for which his was awarded in 2013 by the Writers Guild of America (101 Best written TV Series) and ""Twelve O'Clock High"". Oscar Millard Oscar Millard (March 1, 1908 – December 7, 1990) was an English writer who found success in Hollywood when"
"on the 1951 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis film of the same name, in which Mayehoff played the same part. Mayehoff also appeared in two other Martin and Lewis comedy films, ""The Stooge"" (1952) and ""Artists and Models"" (1955). In 1957, Mayehoff was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his role in the Gore Vidal play ""Visit to a Small Planet"". Mayehoff died in Ventura, California at age 83. His only known immediate survivor was a niece. Eddie Mayehoff A 1932 graduate of Yale University's School of Music, by 1940"
"his final years. He lived with his spinster daughter, Helen Nicolay, at her home at 212 B Street SE in Washington, D.C. He died at home of unspecified causes on September 26, 1901. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in the city. In the 1992 documentary ""Lincoln"", the German-born Nicolay is voiced by the Austrian-born actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the 1988 NBC mini-series ""Lincoln"" based on Gore Vidal's book, Nicolay is portrayed by actor Richard Travis. In the 2012 film ""Lincoln"", Nicolay is portrayed by Jeremy Strong. In the 2017 documentary film ""The Gettysburg Address"", Nicolay is portrayed by"
"Clarke decided it would be best to write a prose treatment first and then adapt it for the film and novel upon its completion. Clarke and Kubrick jointly developed the screenplay and treatment, which were loosely based on ""The Sentinel"" and incorporated elements from various other Clarke stories. Clarke wrote the novel adaptation independently. Although the film has become famous due to its groundbreaking visual effects and ambiguous, abstract nature, the film and book were intended to complement each other. The film was written by Clarke and Kubrick and featured specialist artwork by Roy Carnon. The film is notable for"
"and starred Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Aidan Quinn; it won the 1995 Academy Award for cinematography. Jim Harrison had a writing credit for the film. Other films he scripted or co-wrote include ""Cold Feet"" (1989), with Keith Carradine, Tom Waits, and Rip Torn and ""Revenge"" (1990), starring Kevin Costner. For his work on the screenplay for ""Wolf"" (1994, starring Jack Nicholson) Harrison, along with co-writer Wesley Strick, shared the Saturn Award for Best Writing. NOTE: Jim Harrison James Harrison (December 11, 1937 – March 26, 2016) was an American writer known for his poetry, fiction, reviews, essays about the"
"James Poe James Poe (October 4, 1921 – January 24, 1980) was an American film and television screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the movies ""Around the World in 80 Days"" for which he jointly won an Academy Award in 1956, ""Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"", ""Summer and Smoke"", ""Lilies of the Field"", and ""They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"". He also worked as a writer on the radio shows ""Escape"" and ""Suspense"", writing the scripts for some of their best episodes, most notably ""Three Skeleton Key"", ""Blood Bath"" and ""The Present Tense"", all of which starred"
"that follows a Mexican immigrant's rise in the criminal underworld as he strives for the American Dream. On August 10, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Antoine Fuqua was in talks to direct the film. On September 28, 2016, ""Variety"" reported that Terence Winter would be penning the script for the film. Scarface (novel) Scarface is a novel written by Armitage Trail in 1929 and published in 1930. The 1932 film ""Scarface"" was based on it. The twenty-eight year-old author died suddenly of a heart attack in 1930. The book's storyline is heavily inspired by the real life gangster Al Capone"
"and ""Wild Geese II"". Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American film and television writer most widely known for his work in the early years of television drama. Rose's work is marked by its treatment of controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach helped create the slice of life school of television drama, which was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s. Rose was born in Manhattan, the son of Alice (Obendorfer) and William Rose, a lawyer. Rose attended Townsend High School and briefly attended City College (now part of"
"finding his empathy with the material and the cast and crew appealing. The two would make five more films together: ""The Gunfighter"" (1950), ""David and Bathsheba"" (1952), ""The Bravados"" (1958) and ""Beloved Infidel"" (1959). Veterans of the heavy bomber campaign frequently cite ""Twelve O'Clock High"" as the only Hollywood film that accurately captured their combat experiences. Along with the 1948 film ""Command Decision"", it marked a turning away from the optimistic, morale-boosting style of wartime films and toward a grittier realism that deals more directly with the human costs of war. Both films deal with the realities of daylight precision"
"classic ""Vertigo"" (1958). His film career faded after the initial box office failure of ""Vertigo"", though Hitchcock and Taylor remained frequent collaborators. He was often contracted to write drafts for Hitchcock's later films, such as ""Torn Curtain"" (1966), though Taylor's only other Hitchcock screenplay (apart from ""Vertigo"") was for ""Topaz"" (1969). Taylor was nominated for his only Tony Award in as co-producer of the musical play ""No Strings"" (1962), for which he also wrote the book. Other playwrighting credits include ""Avanti!"" (1968), which was later adapted for the Billy Wilder film released in 1972, and ""Legend"" (1976). Taylor died of"
"come to be regarded as one of Lancaster's greatest films. Hecht-Hill-Lancaster produced seven additional films in the late 1950s. Four starred Lancaster: ""Run Silent, Run Deep"" (1958), a war film with Clark Gable, directed by Robert Wise, which was mildly popular; ""Separate Tables"" (1958), with Kerr and Rita Hayworth (who married James Hill), based on a play by Terence Rattigan, which won Oscars for David Niven and Wendy Hiller, and was a success; ""The Devil's Disciple"" (1959), with Douglas and Laurence Olivier, which lost money (and saw Lancaster fire Mackendirck during shooting); and ""The Unforgiven"" (1960), with Audrey Hepburn, which"
"The City and the Pillar The City and the Pillar is the third published novel by American writer Gore Vidal, written in 1946 and published on January 10, 1948. The story is about a young man who is coming of age and discovers his own homosexuality. ""The City and the Pillar"" is significant because it is recognized as the first post-World War II novel whose gay protagonist is portrayed in a sympathetic manner and is not killed off at the end of the story for defying social norms. It is also recognized as one of the ""definitive war-influenced gay novels"","
"with Billy Wilder; the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first of seven scripts Chandler wrote, although two of them were unused. In 1959 Chandler died of pneumonia, brought on by alcoholism. In the aftermath of his death, many of his unpublished writings—including letters, literary criticism and prose and poetry—were released. His biographer Tom Williams considers that Chandler's name has become ""a touchstone for crime writing, representing not just excellent fiction, but also a type of writing that is at once powerful and beautiful."" ""The Rose Leaf Romance"" and ""Organ Music"" are"
"the late 1950s Greene and Rouse formed a production company, Greene-Rouse Productions, which created the ""film noir"" television series ""Tightrope"" that ran for one season (1959–60) as well as two films in the 1960s. In addition to their noir work, Rouse and Greene produced two westerns (""The Fastest Gun Alive"" (1956) and ""Thunder in the Sun"" (1959). The 1959 film, ""Pillow Talk"", was based on their story. Their careers drew to a close shortly after the unsuccessful film, ""The Oscar"" (1966). Rouse and Greene were nominated for the Academy Award for writing ""The Well"" (1951). They received the Academy Award"
"was about a West Point cadet who was found dead. It was a bestseller, appearing thirteen weeks on ""The New York Times"" hardcover bestseller list and seven weeks on the paperback list. In ""The New York Times"", Gene Lyons said the book was ""as compelling and important a popular novel has emerged or is likely to emerge from the Vietnam era."" It was made in a two-part television movie in 1986, starring Hal Holbrook, Eddie Albert and Alec Baldwin; Gore Vidal wrote the screenplay. The movie rights for his fourth novel, ""Heart of War"", were sold for $1 million. His"
"Some novels were filmed more than once, such as ""Brighton Rock"" in 1947 and 2011, ""The End of the Affair"" in 1955 and 1999, and ""The Quiet American"" in 1958 and 2002. The 1936 thriller ""A Gun for Sale"" was filmed at least five times under different titles. Greene received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay for the 1948 Carol Reed film ""The Fallen Idol"", adapted from his own short story ""The Basement Room"". He also wrote several original screenplays. In 1949, after writing the novella as ""raw material"", he wrote the screenplay for a classic ""film noir"", ""The"
"Gore Vidal's cover testimonial to Butler's biography adds credence to the story. Vidal died, of complications from kidney cancer in 1969 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 73, while on a trip around the world. His ashes were scattered at Fort Belvoir, which had been Camp A.A. Humphreys and his first posting after graduation from West Point. Eugene Luther Vidal Eugene Luther ""Gene"" Vidal (; April 13, 1895 – February 20, 1969) was an American commercial aviation pioneer, New Deal official, inventor and athlete. He was the father of author Gore Vidal. For eight years, from 1929 to"
"letters, essays and books. His four books, ""Cell 2455, Death Row"" (1954), ""Trial by Ordeal"" (1955), ""The Face of Justice"" (1957) and ""The Kid Was a Killer"" (1960), became bestsellers. He sold the rights to ""Cell 2455, Death Row"" to Columbia Pictures, which made a 1955 film of the same name, directed by Fred F. Sears, with William Campbell as Chessman. Chessman's middle name, Whittier, was used as the surname of his alter ego protagonist in the film. The manuscript of his fourth book, ""The Kid Was a Killer"", was seized by San Quentin warden Harley O. Teets in 1954"
"to ""Good Will Hunting"", which starred and was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The film—about a troubled, blue-collar mathematical genius—was a huge critical and commercial success. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Director for Van Sant. It also won two, including Best Screenplay for Damon and Affleck, and Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Robin Williams, who, in his acceptance speech, referred to Van Sant as ""the mellowest man in Hollywood."" Van Sant, Damon and Affleck parodied themselves and the film's success in Kevin Smith's"" Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"". The success of ""Good Will"
"fell somewhere between that of the quintessential hardboiled writers and their noir fiction compatriots—his protagonists were often heroic in their own way, which happened to be that of the gangster. During the classic era, his work, either as author or screenwriter, was the basis for seven films now widely regarded as film noirs, including three of the most famous: ""High Sierra"" (1941), ""This Gun for Hire"" (1942), and ""The Asphalt Jungle"" (1950). The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the ""classic period"" of American ""film noir"". While ""City Streets"" and other pre-WWII crime melodramas such as ""Fury"" (1936) and"
"feature films, specializing in blockbuster action and thriller films like ""Commando"" and ""Die Hard"". He wrote some of the most successful films of the era, including ""48 Hrs."", ""The Running Man"", ""The Flintstones"", and ""Die Hard 2"". He was frequently hired by studios as a script doctor in order to rewrite preexisting screenplays during production to add more action and humor. He has been nominated twice for the Edgar Allan Poe award, an award given to any piece of media for excellence in mystery writing. The first in 1984 for ""48 Hrs"". and again in 1989 for ""Die Hard"". De"
"Nigel Rix, and Trooper O'Neill. McLean stories in The Weekly News appeared anonymously until 6 October 1979, ten years after Goodchild's death.*18 He wrote and directed films based on books and stories. Several awards were named after him. George Goodchild George Goodchild (1888–1969) aka Alan Dare, Wallace Q. Reid, and Jesse Templeton, was a prolific and successful British writer of popular books, short stories, plays, and movies (e.g. 1921 ""Colorado Jim"" filmed as ""Colorado Jack""), who published over 200 works in his 60-year career, and beyond his lifetime. Books are still re-issued, mostly in large print for older readers. Featured"
"at a work of adult-themed literature. Most of his books are adventure stories aimed at younger readers — including ""The Lion's Paw"" (1946), ""Deathwatch"" (1972), ""Up Periscope"" (1956) (filmed with James Garner in 1959), ""Flight Deck"" (1961), ""Torpedo Run"" (1962), and ""The Survivor"" (1964). The last four of these—and many others—are set in the same Pacific Theater where White served during World War II. Others—""Lion's Paw"", plus the rarer ""Sail Away"" (1948), ""Three Against the Sea"" (1940), and ""Smuggler's Sloop"" (1937)—feature youthful protagonists working together against the elements. ""White is on record saying that young people appreciate his work most."