Ernest Lehman

American screenwriter

Not to be confused with Ernst Lehmann.

Ernest Lehman

Born|

Ernest Paul Lehman

(1915-12-08)December 8, 1915

New York City, U.S.

Died| July 2, 2005(2005-07-02) (aged 89)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Burial place| Westwood Village Memorial Park
Alma mater| City College of New York (BA)
Occupations|

* Screenwriter
* producer
* director

Known for| Hello, Dolly!
The King and I
North by Northwest
Sabrina
The Sound of Music
Sweet Smell of Success
West Side Story
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Spouses|

Jacqueline Shapiro

(m. 1942; died 1994)​

Laurie Sherman

(m. 1997)​

Children| 3

Ernest Paul Lehman[1] (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter and film producer.[2] He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win.[2] At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, he received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his achievements and his influential works for the screen. He was the first screenwriter to receive that honor.

He received two Edgar Awards of the Mystery Writers of America for screenplays of suspense films he wrote for director Alfred Hitchcock: North by Northwest (1959), his only original screenplay, and Family Plot (1976), one of numerous adaptations.

## Early life and education

[edit]

Lehman was born in 1915 to Gertrude (Thorn) and Paul E. Lehman.[3] Their Jewish family was based on Long Island.[4] Lehman attended the College of the City of New York (The City College of New York), from which he earned a bachelor's degree.[2]

During World War II he was trained at the New England Radio Institute, then worked as a radio operator for the aviation industry.[5]

## Career

[edit]

After graduation, Lehman started working as a freelance writer. Lehman felt that freelancing was a "very nervous way to make a living", so he began writing copy for a publicity firm that focused on plays and celebrities. He drew from this experience for the screenplay of the film Sweet Smell of Success (1957), which he co-wrote with playwright Clifford Odets.

Lehman also published many short stories and novellas in magazines such as Colliers, Redbook and Cosmopolitan. These attracted the attention of Hollywood managers, and in the mid-1950s Paramount Pictures signed him to a writing contract. His first film, Executive Suite (1954), was a success.

Lehman was asked to collaborate on the romantic comedy Sabrina (1954), which was released the same year and also became a hit. Some of his most notable works are the screenplay adaptations of the musical West Side Story (1961)[2] and the mega-hit film version of The Sound of Music (1965), another musical.[2]

### Collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock

[edit]

In 1958, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had hired Hitchcock to make a film called The Wreck of the Mary Deare, based on Hammond Innes' novel of the same name. Collaborating with Lehman, Hitchcock produced North by Northwest (1959) instead. This was one of Lehman's few original screenplays (rather than adaptations). The film starred Cary Grant as Roger O. Thornhill, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent by a group of menacing spies (led by James Mason and Martin Landau). Lehman later said he intended North by Northwest to be "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures." The writing process took Lehman a year, including several periods of writer's block, as well as a trip to Mount Rushmore to do research for the film's climax.

North by Northwest was one of Lehman's greatest triumphs in Hollywood and a huge hit for Hitchcock. For his efforts, Lehman received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, as well as a 1960 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.

### Other projects

[edit]

In addition to screenwriting, Lehman tried his hand at producing. He was among the few people who initially favored a film adaptation of Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He persuaded studio executive Jack L. Warner to allow him to take on the project, and the film was a critical sensation, garnering many Academy Award nominations. Lehman was also nominated for an Academy Award for producing Hello, Dolly! (1969), starring Barbra Streisand.[2]

In 1972, Lehman directed Portnoy's Complaint, based on the novel by Philip Roth; this was his only directorial work.[2] Later, he earned another Edgar Award for his screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's final movie, Family Plot (1976).

By 1979, Lehman had stopped writing screenplays, aside from some television projects. He turned down offers to write for Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs and Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible. Lehman completed adaptations for two films that were never made: a screenplay for the Noël Coward classic Hay Fever, and one for a musical version of Zorba the Greek. The latter was intended for direction by Robert Wise and starring actors Anthony Quinn and John Travolta.

In 1977, Lehman published the bestselling novel The French Atlantic Affair, about a group of unemployed, middle-class Americans who hijack a French cruise ship for a $35 million ransom. It was adapted as a TV miniseries in 1979.

## Personal life

[edit]

Lehman married Jacqueline Shapiro in 1942. They had two sons, Roger and Alan. Jacqueline died in 1994.[2]

In 1997, Lehman married Laurie Sherman. They had one son, Jonathan, and were married until his death.[2]

### Amateur radio

[edit]

Lehman held amateur radio callsign K6DXK.[6] He was an active member of the Bel Air Repeater Association.

### Death

[edit]

Lehman died on July 2, 2005, at UCLA Medical Center after an apparent heart attack.[7] He was buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

## Writing credits

[edit]

### Filmography

[edit]

* The Inside Story (story) (1948)
* Executive Suite (1954)
* Sabrina (with Billy Wilder & Samuel Taylor) (1954)
* Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
* The King and I (1956)
* Sweet Smell of Success (with Clifford Odets) (1957) also story
* North by Northwest (1959)
* From the Terrace (1960)
* West Side Story (1961)
* The Prize (1963)
* The Sound of Music (1965)
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
* Hello, Dolly! (1969)
* Portnoy's Complaint (1972) also director
* Family Plot (1976)
* Black Sunday (with Kenneth Ross and Ivan Moffat) (1977)

### Television

[edit]

* The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949) writer, one episode
* The Ford Television Theatre (1954) writer, one episode
* Lux Video Theatre (1955) writer, one episode
* Playhouse 90 (1957) writer, one episode
* TV de Vanguarda [pt] (1957) based on Sweet Smell of Success
* The French Atlantic Affair (1979) based on his novel

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Sweet Smell of Success and Other Stories aka The Comedian and Other Stories (1957) short stories
* The French Atlantic Affair (1977) novel
* Screening Sickness and Other Tales of Tinsel Town (1982) essays
* Farewell Performance (1982) novel

### Biography

[edit]

* Ernest Lehman: The Sweet Smell of Success (2022) by Jon Krampner

## Accolades

[edit]

Lehman received six Academy Award nominations during his career, but never won. At the 73rd Academy Awards ceremony in 2001, he became the first screenwriter to receive an Honorary Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Lehman did, however, receive more honorable recognition from the Writers Guild of America than any other screenwriter in film history.

Award  | Date of ceremony  | Category  | Film  | Result

|
|
|
|

Academy Award | 1955 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Sabrina (shared with Billy Wilder and Samuel A. Taylor)
Lost to George Seaton for The Country Girl | Nominated
1960 | Best Original Screenplay | North by Northwest
Lost to Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro, and Maurice Richlin for Pillow Talk
1962 | Best Adapted Screenplay | West Side Story
Lost to Abby Mann for Judgment at Nuremberg
1967 | Best Picture | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Lost to Fred Zinnemann for A Man for All Seasons
Best Adapted Screenplay | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Lost to Robert Bolt for A Man for All Seasons
1970 | Best Picture | Hello, Dolly!
Lost to Jerome Hellman for Midnight Cowboy
2001 | Academy Honorary Award | "in appreciation of a body of varied and enduring work."  | Honorary
Golden Globe Award | 1955 | Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Sabrina (shared with Billy Wilder and Samuel A. Taylor)  | Won
1967 | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Lost to Fred Zinnemann for A Man for All Seasons | Nominated
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Lost to Robert Bolt for A Man for All Seasons
1970 | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Hello, Dolly!
Lost to Stanley Kramer and George Glass for The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Edgar Allan Poe Award | 1960  | Best Motion Picture Screenplay | North by Northwest | Won
1977  | Family Plot
1978  | Black Sunday (shared with Kenneth Ross and Ivan Moffat)
Lost to Robert Benton for The Late Show | Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award | 1955  | Best Written American Comedy  | Sabrina (shared with Billy Wilder and Samuel A. Taylor)  | Won
Best Written American Drama  | Executive Suite
Lost to Budd Schulberg for On the Waterfront | Nominated
1957  | Somebody Up There Likes Me
Lost to Michael Wilson for Friendly Persuasion
Best Written American Musical  | The King and I | Won
1960  | Best Written American Comedy  | North by Northwest
Lost to Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond for Some Like It Hot | Nominated
1962  | Best Written American Musical  | West Side Story | Won
1966  | The Sound of Music
1967  | Best Written American Drama  | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1972  | Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement |  | Honorary
1977  | Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium  | Family Plot
Lost to Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman for The Pink Panther Strikes Again | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Ernest Lehman Biography (c. 1915-)". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Fox, Margalit (July 6, 2005). "Ernest Lehman, 89, Who Wrote 'North by Northwest,' Dies". The New York Times.
3. ^ "Ernest Lehman | Encyclopedia.com".
4. ^ Erens, Patricia (1998). The Jew in American Cinema. Indiana University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-253-20493-6.
5. ^ "Ernest Lehman: An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center".
6. ^ "Ernest Lehman, K6DXK and Screenwriter of "The Sound of Music," Dead at 89". KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog. July 6, 2005. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
7. ^ "Ernest Lehman - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.

## External links

[edit]

* Biography portal

* Ernest Lehman at IMDb
* Ernest Lehman at Find a Grave
* Ernest Lehman at the Internet Broadway Database
* Ernest Lehman papers at the Harry Ransom Center

* v
* t
* e

Academy Honorary Award

1928–1950|

* Warner Bros. / Charlie Chaplin (1928)
* Walt Disney (1932)
* Shirley Temple (1934)
* D. W. Griffith (1935)
* The March of Time / W. Howard Greene and Harold Rosson (1936)
* Edgar Bergen / W. Howard Greene / Museum of Modern Art Film Library / Mack Sennett (1937)
* J. Arthur Ball / Walt Disney / Deanna Durbin and Mickey Rooney / Gordon Jennings, Jan Domela, Devereaux Jennings, Irmin Roberts, Art Smith, Farciot Edouart, Loyal Griggs, Loren L. Ryder, Harry D. Mills, Louis Mesenkop, Walter Oberst / Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey / Harry Warner (1938)
* Douglas Fairbanks / Judy Garland / William Cameron Menzies / Motion Picture Relief Fund (Jean Hersholt, Ralph Morgan, Ralph Block, Conrad Nagel) / Technicolor SA (1939)
* Bob Hope / Nathan Levinson (1940)
* Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins, and the RCA Manufacturing Company / Leopold Stokowski and his associates / Rey Scott / British Ministry of Information (1941)
* Charles Boyer / Noël Coward / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1942)
* George Pal (1943)
* Bob Hope / Margaret O'Brien (1944)
* Republic Studio, Daniel J. Bloomberg, and the Republic Studio Sound Department / Walter Wanger / The House I Live In / Peggy Ann Garner (1945)
* Harold Russell / Laurence Olivier / Ernst Lubitsch / Claude Jarman Jr. (1946)
* James Baskett / Thomas Armat, William Nicholas Selig, Albert E. Smith, and George Kirke Spoor / Bill and Coo / Shoeshine (1947)
* Walter Wanger / Monsieur Vincent / Sid Grauman / Adolph Zukor (1948)
* Jean Hersholt / Fred Astaire / Cecil B. DeMille / The Bicycle Thief (1949)
* Louis B. Mayer / George Murphy / The Walls of Malapaga (1950)

1951–1975|

* Gene Kelly / Rashomon (1951)
* Merian C. Cooper / Bob Hope / Harold Lloyd / George Mitchell / Joseph M. Schenck / Forbidden Games (1952)
* 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation / Bell & Howell Company / Joseph Breen / Pete Smith (1953)
* Bausch & Lomb Optical Company / Danny Kaye / Kemp Niver / Greta Garbo / Jon Whiteley / Vincent Winter / Gate of Hell (1954)
* Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1955)
* Eddie Cantor (1956)
* Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers / Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson / Charles Brackett / B. B. Kahane (1957)
* Maurice Chevalier (1958)
* Buster Keaton / Lee de Forest (1959)
* Gary Cooper / Stan Laurel / Hayley Mills (1960)
* William L. Hendricks / Fred L. Metzler / Jerome Robbins (1961)
* William J. Tuttle (1964)
* Bob Hope (1965)
* Yakima Canutt / Y. Frank Freeman (1966)
* Arthur Freed (1967)
* John Chambers / Onna White (1968)
* Cary Grant (1969)
* Lillian Gish / Orson Welles (1970)
* Charlie Chaplin (1971)
* Charles S. Boren / Edward G. Robinson (1972)
* Henri Langlois / Groucho Marx (1973)
* Howard Hawks / Jean Renoir (1974)
* Mary Pickford (1975)

1976–2000|

* Margaret Booth (1977)
* Walter Lantz / Laurence Olivier / King Vidor / Museum of Modern Art Department of Film (1978)
* Hal Elias / Alec Guinness (1979)
* Henry Fonda (1980)
* Barbara Stanwyck (1981)
* Mickey Rooney (1982)
* Hal Roach (1983)
* James Stewart / National Endowment for the Arts (1984)
* Paul Newman / Alex North (1985)
* Ralph Bellamy (1986)
* Eastman Kodak Company / National Film Board of Canada (1988)
* Akira Kurosawa (1989)
* Sophia Loren / Myrna Loy (1990)
* Satyajit Ray (1991)
* Federico Fellini (1992)
* Deborah Kerr (1993)
* Michelangelo Antonioni (1994)
* Kirk Douglas / Chuck Jones (1995)
* Michael Kidd (1996)
* Stanley Donen (1997)
* Elia Kazan (1998)
* Andrzej Wajda (1999)
* Jack Cardiff / Ernest Lehman (2000)

2001–present|

* Sidney Poitier / Robert Redford (2001)
* Peter O'Toole (2002)
* Blake Edwards (2003)
* Sidney Lumet (2004)
* Robert Altman (2005)
* Ennio Morricone (2006)
* Robert F. Boyle (2007)
* Lauren Bacall / Roger Corman / Gordon Willis (2009)
* Kevin Brownlow / Jean-Luc Godard / Eli Wallach (2010)
* James Earl Jones / Dick Smith (2011)
* D. A. Pennebaker / Hal Needham / George Stevens Jr. (2012)
* Angela Lansbury / Steve Martin / Piero Tosi (2013)
* Jean-Claude Carrière / Hayao Miyazaki / Maureen O'Hara (2014)
* Spike Lee / Gena Rowlands (2015)
* Jackie Chan / Lynn Stalmaster / Anne V. Coates / Frederick Wiseman (2016)
* Charles Burnett / Owen Roizman / Donald Sutherland / Agnès Varda (2017)
* Marvin Levy / Lalo Schifrin / Cicely Tyson (2018)
* David Lynch / Wes Studi / Lina Wertmüller (2019)
* Samuel L. Jackson / Elaine May / Liv Ullmann (2021)
* Euzhan Palcy / Diane Warren / Peter Weir (2022)
* Angela Bassett / Mel Brooks / Carol Littleton (2023)
* Quincy Jones / Juliet Taylor (2024)
* Debbie Allen / Tom Cruise / Wynn Thomas (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Musical

* Sidney Sheldon, Frances Goodrich, & Albert Hackett (1948)
* Adolph Green & Betty Comden (1949)
* Sidney Sheldon (1950)
* Alan Jay Lerner (1951)
* Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (1952)
* Helen Deutsch (1953)
* Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, & Dorothy Kingsley (1954)
* Daniel Fuchs, & Isobel Lennart (1955)
* Ernest Lehman (1956)
* John Patrick (1957)
* Alan Jay Lerner (1958)
* Melville Shavelson, & Jack Rose (1959)
* Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (1960)
* Ernest Lehman (1961)
* Marion Hargrove (1962)
* Not Awarded (1963)
* Bill Walsh, & Don DaGradi (1964)
* Ernest Lehman (1965)
* Not Awarded (1966)
* Richard Morris (1967)
* Isobel Lennart (1968)

* v
* t
* e

Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay

1940s|

* John Paxton (1946)
* Anthony Veiller (1947)
* John Paxton (1948)
* Jerome Cady, Jay Dratler, Leonard Hoffman, and Quentin Reynolds (1949)

1950s|

* Mel Dinelli and Cornell Woolrich (1950)
* Ben Maddow (1951)
* Michael Wilson (1952)
* Michael Wilson and Otto Lang (1953)
* Sydney Boehm (1954)
* John Michael Hayes (1955)
* Joseph Hayes (1956)
* Reginald Rose (1958)
* Nathan E. Douglas and Harold Jacob Smith (1959)

1960s|

* Ernest Lehman (1960)
* Joseph Stefano (1961)
* William Archibald and Truman Capote (1962)
* Peter Stone (1964)
* Henry Farrell and Lukas Heller (1965)
* Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper (1966)
* William Goldman (1967)
* Stirling Silliphant (1968)
* Harry Kleiner and Alan Trustman (1969)

1970s|

* Costa Gavras and Jorge Semprún (1970)
* Elio Petri and Ugo Pirro (1971)
* Ernest Tidyman (1972)
* Anthony Shaffer (1973)
* Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim (1974)
* Robert Towne (1975)
* David Rayfiel and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (1976)
* Ernest Lehman (1977)
* Robert Benton (1978)
* William Goldman (1979)

1980s|

* Michael Crichton (1980)
* Joseph Wambaugh (1981)
* Jeffrey Alan Fiskin (1982)
* Barrie Keeffe (1983)
* Dennis Potter (1984)
* Charles Fuller (1985)
* William Kelley and Earl W. Wallace (1986)
* E. Max Frye (1987)
* Jim Kouf (1988)
* Errol Morris (1989)

1990s|

* Daniel Waters (1990)
* Donald E. Westlake (1991)
* Ted Tally (1992)
* Michael Tolkin (1993)
* Ebbe Roe Smith (1994)
* Quentin Tarantino (1995)
* Christopher McQuarrie (1996)
* Billy Bob Thornton (1997)
* Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland (1998)
* Scott Frank and Elmore Leonard (1999)

2000s|

* Guy Ritchie (2000)
* Stephen Gaghan and Simon Moore (2001)
* Christopher Nolan (2002)
* Bill Condon (2003)
* Steven Knight (2004)
* Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Sébastien Japrisot (2005)
* Stephen Gaghan and Robert Baer (2006)
* William Monahan (2007)
* Tony Gilroy (2008)
* Martin McDonagh (2009)

* v
* t
* e

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement

1950s|

* Sonya Levien (1952)
* Dudley Nichols (1953)
* Robert Riskin (1954)
* Julius Epstein & Philip Epstein and Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich (1955)
* Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder (1956)
* John Lee Mahin (1957)
* Nunnally Johnson (1958)
* Norman Krasna (1959)

1960s|

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

1970s|

* James Poe (1970)
* Ernest Lehman (1971)
* William Rose (1972)
* Paddy Chayefsky (1973)
* Preston Sturges (1974)
* Michael Wilson (1975)
* Samson Raphaelson (1976)
* Edward Anhalt (1977)
* Neil Simon (1978)
* Billy Wilder & I. A. L. Diamond (1979)

1980s|

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

1990s|

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

2000s|

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

2010s|

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

2020s|

* No Award (2020)
* No Award (2021)
* Charlie Kaufman (2022)
* Walter Hill (2023)
* David Lynch (2024)

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