The movie business lost another one of its iconic figures yesterday with the death of screenwriter Budd Schulberg. Losing the writer of "On the Waterfront" and "A Face in the Crowd" would be news under any circumstances, but it's particularly relevant here, since the name of this blog is an affectionate homage to Schulberg's classic movie biz novel, "What Makes Sammy Run?" Almost exactly two years ago, I gave a shout out to Budd in my inaugural entry (see blog archive). At that time, he was still going strong at the ripe old age of 93.
Other interesting facts from Schulberg's very full, and not uncontroversial life:
-He enlisted in the Navy and made documentary films with John Ford in World War II.
-His father, B.P. Schulberg, once ran Paramount Pictures.
-He personally arrested Nazi documentarian Leni Riefenstahl while gathering evidence for the Nuremberg trials.
-He named names before congress, along with "Waterfront" director Elia Kazan, during the McCarthy era.
-He stopped writing for the movies in the 60's and turned his attention to sports writing. He was inducted into the Boxing hall of fame in 2002.
Ben Stiller was the most recent in a line of A-list actors who tried to turn "What Makes Sammy Run" into a movie. The property's still stuck in development, because, I guess, "Night at the Museum 2" wasn't going to direct itself. R.I.P., Mr. Schulberg. Links to video and further reading below:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/budd-schulberg-on-the-waterfront-screenwriter-dies-at-95/
http://www.forward.com/articles/10373/
