Edward Anhalt

American screenwriter

For the event promoter, see Edward Francis Anhalt.

Edward Anhalt

Born| March 28, 1914

New York City, U.S.

Died| September 3, 2000(2000-09-03) (aged 86)

Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.

Occupation(s)| Screenwriter, producer, documentary filmmaker

Edward Anhalt (March 28, 1914 – September 3, 2000)[1] was an American screenwriter, producer, and documentary filmmaker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV, he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, one of his five wives, during World War II to write pulp fiction.

As a screenwriter, Anhalt won two Academy Awards: He shared the Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story with his wife Edna Anhalt for Panic in the Streets (1950) and a second Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Becket (1964).

## Early life and education

[edit]

Anhalt was born in New York City. He began writing at the age of 15, with his first play being On the Rocks: A Political Comedy by George Bernard Shaw. He got criticized by Shaw for messing with his work, and went to attend Columbia and Princeton universities instead.[2]

## Career

[edit]

During World War II, Anhalt served with the Army Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California as a scenarist for training films.

After the war, Anhalt graduated to writing screenplays for thrillers, initially using the joint pseudonym Andrew Holt. The works by him and his wife, Edna Anhalt had attracted Hollywood, and they moved from New York to Los Angeles, where he made his first screenwriting debut in 1946 with Strange Voyage.[2]

Put under contract by Columbia, the Anhalts scripted Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1947). After a stint at Twentieth Century Fox during which they won the Academy Award for Best Story for the screen story to the urban thriller Panic in the Streets (1950),[3] the husband and wife team returned to Columbia as writer-producers, earning another Academy Award nomination for their story to the thriller The Sniper in 1952.[4]

The Anhalts wrote the 1952 screen version of Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding, which preserved the stage performances of Julie Harris, Brandon deWilde and Ethel Waters.[5]

After the couple divorced, Anhalt proved a versatile, consistently effective (and reputedly speedy) scenarist. He penned the adaptation of Irwin Shaw's World War II novel The Young Lions (1958)[6] and Wives and Lovers (1963). The screenwriter earned a second Academy Award for his adaptation of Jean Anouilh's play Becket (1964).[7]

Subsequent solo outings included Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962),[6] The Boston Strangler (1968),[8] The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969),[6] and two for Ely A. Landau's American Film Theater, Luther (1973) and The Man in the Glass Booth (1975).[9] He had box office successes with The Satan Bug (1965)[10] and Jeremiah Johnson (1972).[6] In the early 1970s, Anhalt returned to the small screen, earning an Emmy nomination for the ABC miniseries QB VII (1974).[11] Three years later, he scripted the Frank Sinatra vehicle Contract on Cherry Street (NBC)[12] and contributed to the small screen remake of Madame X (NBC, 1981)[13] and the biblically inspired The Day Christ Died (CBS, 1982).[14] Anhalt was also the guiding force behind the 1985 NBC miniseries Peter the Great.[6]

His feature film output towards the end of his life included films like Escape to Athena (1979),[15] Green Ice (1981),[8] The Holcroft Covenant (1985)[16] and The Neon Empire.[17]

## Filmography

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1967 | Hour of the Gun | Denver Doctor | Uncredited
1983 | The Right Stuff | Grand Designer |
1988 | Two Idiots in Hollywood | Jury Foreman | (final film role)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Verdin, Tom (September 5, 2000). "Anhalt, Oscar-Winning Writer, Dies". AP. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
2. ^ a b Oliver, Myrna (September 6, 2000). "Edward Anhalt; Oscar-Winning Screenwriter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
3. ^ "The 23rd Academy Awards". Oscars. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
4. ^ "The 25th Academy Awards". Oscars. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
5. ^ "Member Of The Wedding". Sony Pictures Museum. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
6. ^ a b c d e "Edward Anhalt, 86, 'Becket' Screenwriter". The New York Times. September 9, 2000. p. B28.
7. ^ "The 37th Academy Awards". Oscars. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
8. ^ a b "Edward Anhalt, 86, a writer who won..." The Baltimore Sun. September 6, 2000.
9. ^ "Edward Anhalt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
10. ^ Crowther, Bosley (April 15, 1965). "The Satan Bug' Brings a Talented Cast". The New York Times. p. 0.
11. ^ "Outstanding Writing in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy – Adaptation – 1975". Emmy Awards. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
12. ^ Shales, Tom (November 19, 1977). "Sinatra's 'Contract On Cherry Street'". The Washington Post.
13. ^ Bergan, Ronald (September 20, 2000). "Edward Anhalt". The Guardian.
14. ^ Shales, Tom (March 26, 1980). "'The Day Christ Died'". The Washington Post.
15. ^ Candy, Vincent (June 8, 1979). "Film: Toy Commandos:A War Movie". The New York Times.
16. ^ "The Holcroft Covenant". Variety. December 31, 1984.
17. ^ O'Connor, John J. (November 30, 1989). "Inventing Las Vegas In 'The Neon Empire'". The New York Times. p. C29.

## External links

[edit]

* Edward Anhalt at IMDb

Awards for Edward Anhalt

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

1928–1950|

* Benjamin Glazer (1928)
* Hanns Kräly (1929)
* Frances Marion (1930)
* Howard Estabrook (1931)
* Edwin J. Burke (1932)
* Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason (1933)
* Robert Riskin (1934)
* Dudley Nichols (1935)
* Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney (1936)
* Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, and Norman Reilly Raine (1937)
* Ian Dalrymple, Cecil Arthur Lewis, W. P. Lipscomb, and George Bernard Shaw (1938)
* Sidney Howard (1939)
* Donald Ogden Stewart (1940)
* Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller (1941)
* George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West, and Arthur Wimperis (1942)
* Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein, and Howard Koch (1943)
* Frank Butler and Frank Cavett (1944)
* Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder (1945)
* Robert Sherwood (1946)
* George Seaton (1947)
* John Huston (1948)
* Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1949)
* Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950)

1951–1975|

* Harry Brown and Michael Wilson (1951)
* Charles Schnee (1952)
* Daniel Taradash (1953)
* George Seaton (1954)
* Paddy Chayefsky (1955)
* John Farrow, S. J. Perelman, and James Poe (1956)
* Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson (1957)
* Alan Jay Lerner (1958)
* Neil Paterson (1959)
* Richard Brooks (1960)
* Abby Mann (1961)
* Horton Foote (1962)
* John Osborne (1963)
* Edward Anhalt (1964)
* Robert Bolt (1965)
* Robert Bolt (1966)
* Stirling Silliphant (1967)
* James Goldman (1968)
* Waldo Salt (1969)
* Ring Lardner Jr. (1970)
* Ernest Tidyman (1971)
* Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo (1972)
* William Peter Blatty (1973)
* Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo (1974)
* Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben (1975)

1976–2000|

* William Goldman (1976)
* Alvin Sargent (1977)
* Oliver Stone (1978)
* Robert Benton (1979)
* Alvin Sargent (1980)
* Ernest Thompson (1981)
* Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart (1982)
* James L. Brooks (1983)
* Peter Shaffer (1984)
* Kurt Luedtke (1985)
* Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1986)
* Bernardo Bertolucci and Mark Peploe (1987)
* Christopher Hampton (1988)
* Alfred Uhry (1989)
* Michael Blake (1990)
* Ted Tally (1991)
* Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1992)
* Steven Zaillian (1993)
* Eric Roth (1994)
* Emma Thompson (1995)
* Billy Bob Thornton (1996)
* Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland (1997)
* Bill Condon (1998)
* John Irving (1999)
* Stephen Gaghan (2000)

2001–present|

* Akiva Goldsman (2001)
* Ronald Harwood (2002)
* Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Fran Walsh (2003)
* Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (2004)
* Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (2005)
* William Monahan (2006)
* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (2007)
* Simon Beaufoy (2008)
* Geoffrey S. Fletcher (2009)
* Aaron Sorkin (2010)
* Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon (2011)
* Chris Terrio (2012)
* John Ridley (2013)
* Graham Moore (2014)
* Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (2015)
* Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (2016)
* James Ivory (2017)
* Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee (2018)
* Taika Waititi (2019)
* Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (2020)
* Sian Heder (2021)
* Sarah Polley (2022)
* Cord Jefferson (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Story

* Ben Hecht (1927/28)
* No Award (1928/29)
* No Award (1929/30)
* John Monk Saunders (1930/31)
* Frances Marion (1931/32)
* Robert Lord (1932/33)
* Arthur Caesar (1934)
* Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (1935)
* Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney (1936)
* Robert Carson and William Wellman (1937)
* Eleanore Griffin and Dore Schary (1938)
* Lewis R. Foster (1939)
* Benjamin Glazer and John Toldy (1940)
* Harry Segall (1941)
* Emeric Pressburger (1942)
* William Saroyan (1943)
* Leo McCarey (1944)
* Charles G. Booth (1945)
* Clemence Dane (1946)
* Valentine Davies (1947)
* Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler (1948)
* Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt (1950)
* James Bernard and Paul Dehn (1951)
* Frank Cavett, Fredric M. Frank and Theodore St. John (1952)
* Dalton Trumbo (1953)
* Philip Yordan (1954)
* Daniel Fuchs (1955)
* Robert Rich (1956)

* v
* t
* e

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement

1950s|

* Sonya Levien (1953)
* Dudley Nichols (1954)
* Robert Riskin (1955)
* Julius Epstein & Philip Epstein and Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich (1956)
* Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder (1957)
* John Lee Mahin (1958)
* Nunnally Johnson (1959)

1960s|

* Norman Krasna (1960)
* George Seaton (1961)
* Philip Dunne (1962)
* Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1963)
* John Huston (1964)
* Sidney Buchman (1965)
* Isobel Lennart (1966)
* Richard Brooks (1967)
* Casey Robinson (1968)
* Carl Foreman (1969)

1970s|

* Dalton Trumbo (1970)
* James Poe (1971)
* Ernest Lehman (1972)
* William Rose (1973)
* Paddy Chayefsky (1974)
* Preston Sturges (1975)
* Michael Wilson (1976)
* Samson Raphaelson (1977)
* Edward Anhalt (1978)
* Neil Simon (1979)

1980s|

* Billy Wilder & I. A. L. Diamond (1980)
* Ben Hecht (1981)
* Paul Osborn (1982)
* Lamar Trotti (1983)
* Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank (1984)
* William Goldman (1985)
* Waldo Salt (1986)
* Woody Allen (1987)
* Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr. (1988)
* Ring Lardner Jr. (1989)

1990s|

* Donald Ogden Stewart (1990)
* Alvin Sargent (1991)
* Frank Pierson (1992)
* Horton Foote (1993)
* Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1994)
* Charles Bennett (1995)
* Daniel Taradash (1996)
* Robert Towne (1997)
* Bo Goldman (1998)
* Paul Schrader (1999)

2000s|

* Jean-Claude Carrière (2000)
* Betty Comden and Adolph Green (2001)
* Blake Edwards (2002)
* Mel Brooks (2003)
* John Michael Hayes (2004)
* David Mamet (2005)
* Lawrence Kasdan (2006)
* Robert Benton (2007)
* Budd Schulberg (2008)
* No award (2009)

2010s|

* Barry Levinson (2010)
* Steven Zaillian (2011)
* Eric Roth (2012)
* Tom Stoppard (2013)
* Paul Mazursky (2014)
* Harold Ramis (2015)
* Elaine May (2016)
* Oliver Stone (2017)
* James L. Brooks (2018)
* Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (2019)

2020s|

* Nancy Meyers (2020)
* No award (2021)
* No award (2022)
* Charlie Kaufman (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
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* France
* BnF data
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People|

* Trove
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Other|

* IdRef
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