Ben Harrison Orkow (1896-1988) was an American screenplay, theatre, and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer of Russian descent. He was professionally known as either B. Harrison Orkow or Ben Orkow.

Biography

Orkow was born on

January 9 Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. *1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the J ...

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

in Korna,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

to Abe and Anita Orkow. He moved to the United States in 1906 and was educated privately to the equivalent of a university degree. Orkow married his first wife actress Vera "Viva" Tattersall in 1921. They divorced in the late 1920s. He was then married to Evelyne Arends, who sued for divorce in 1930. He later married Ruby Jewel Dreyer with whom he had a child, Miriam Orkow Biro. Orkow died at the age of 92 died on December 11

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Career

Orkow was the author of a number of plays produced on Broadway; among his credits are 16 screenplays for major movie studies and 20 television dramas. One of the plays he wrote is ''The First Actress'', in which Felicia, a theatre enthusiast, disguises herself as a man to sneak into the theatre group of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and Richard Burbage. Women were banned at that time from acting in the theatre - which leads to the expected complications. At a performance in the presence of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

everything comes out at the end, but Felicia is forgiven.The First Actress
accessed on June 14, 2018. The plot is very reminiscent of that of Shakespeare in Love (1998). His first science fiction novel ''When Time Stood Still'', which was published by ''Signet'' in 1962. It is about a millionaire and his terminally ill wife who travel to the future of 2007, where it is possible to cure the woman's disease. The book has been translated into a number of languages including Italian and German.

Selected filmography

* 1930:

The Truth About Youth ''The Truth About Youth'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama with songs produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Directed by William A. Seiter, the film stars Loretta Young, Conway Tearle, David Manners ...

* 1930: The Gorilla * 1932: Hell's House * 1939:

Boy Slaves ''Boy Slaves'' is a 1939 drama film starring Roger Daniel and Anne Shirley. The film was directed by P.J. Wolfson and based upon an Albert Bein story. ''Boy Slaves'' is an exposé of child labor. Plot Runaway boy Jesse Thompson, hoping to earn ...

* 1942: Wings for the Eagle * 1944:

Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The sh ...

* 1944:

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Selected Bibliography

* ''My Mistress My Wife'' (1934, novel) * ''When Time Stood Still'' (1962, novel)

Selected plays

* ''The First Actress: A Play in three Acts'' (1976, play)

Reference material

Hans Joachim Alpers Hans Joachim Alpers (14 July 1943 – 16 February 2011) was a German writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy. Together with Werner Fuchs and Ulrich Kiesow he founded Fantasy Productions, which became one of the premier German RPG- and boa ...

, Werner Fuchs,

Ronald M. Hahn Ronald M. Hahn (born 20 December 1948 in Wuppertal, Germany) is a German science-fiction writer, translator and author of reference books pertaining to Speculative fiction, speculative literature and film. He was editor of the German edition of The ...

: “Reclam's science fiction guide.” Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3- 15-010312-6, p. 315. * Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald M. Hahn,

Wolfgang Jeschke Wolfgang Jeschke (19 November 1936 – 10 June 2015) was a German science fiction author and editor at Heyne Verlag. In 1987, he won the Harrison Award for international achievements in science fiction. Biography Jeschke was born in 1936 in Dě ...

: “Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature.” Heyne, Munich 1991, , pp. 766 f. *

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

: '
Orkow, Ben.
'' In: John Clute, Peter Nicholls: ' '

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

.' '3rd edition (online edition), version dated April 4, 2017. *

Robert Reginald The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

: '' Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. A Checklist, 1700–1974 with Contemporary Science Fiction Authors II. '' Gale, Detroit 1979, , pp. 1024. * Robert Reginald: `` Contemporary Science Fiction Authors. '' Arno Press, New York 1974, , pp. 210 f. * Donald H. Tuck: "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968." Advent, Chicago 1974, , pp. 338.

References

External links

* * *
Wednesdays with Ruby
an account of the life of Ruby Orkow by Orkow's grandson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Orkow, Ben American science fiction writers 1896 births 1988 deaths American writers of Russian descent American screenwriters 20th-century American screenwriters