Charles Mergendahl (February 23, 1919 – April 27, 1959) was an American writer, best known for his salacious 1958 novel ''The Bramble Bush'' (1958) and its 1960 film adaptation. He also contributed original scripts and adaptations to various American television

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

throughout the 1950s.

Biography

Early life and career

Charles H. Mergendahl, Jr. was born in 1919 in Lynn, Massachusetts, the first of five children born to Charles Henry Mergendahl and Alice Brockway—the former a math instructor at

Classical High School Classical High School, founded in 1843, is a public magnet school in the Providence School District, in Providence, Rhode Island. It was originally an all-male school but has since become co-ed. Classical's motto is ''Certare, Petere, Reperire, ...

, the latter an English teacher at Worcester High School of Commerce. Charles Jr. attended Newton High School and

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

, graduating in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

. He received his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

, graduating in 1941, and his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. Throughout high school and college, Mergendahl had been involved in theater; in 1941, his play, ''My Last Duchess'' (a blank-verse dramatization of

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

's much-anthologized poem), was awarded 1st prize in Bowdoin College's annual one-act play competition and his next play prompted the Boston Globe to write:

''Mr. Mergendahl shows promise. He has a clever manner of writing lines that bring out what is really inside of his characters. He also has the ability to create a tense situations and to draw characters in contrast. Less commendable, however, is his way of looking at the world as though everyone in it is in the wrong profession and unhappy''.

Although an extended tour of duty in World War II necessarily brought his direct participation in theatre to an end, it does not appear to have adversely affected Mergendahl's productivity. In 1945, United Press reported that "during eight major engagements," Mergendahl had, by his own account, "written four novels, eight plays, and thirty short stories." He was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

decoration for his military service in leading the first wave of Marines onto the beach during the

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, an ...

in the Pacific War. During the filming of his most famous novel, which was being reprinted to coincide with the release, Mergendahl died of brain trauma following an accidental fall at his home. He was only 40 years old; leaving behind a teenage daughter whose mother (his wife) had predeceased him.

Works

Drama

* ''The Twig'' (1940)"Bowdoin Dramatists to Give Newton Man's Play in Home City"
''The Boston Globe''. November 18, 1940. p. 4. * ''My Last Duchess'' (1941)"Vance Bourjaily Places Second in Annual Play Competition at Bowdoin"
''The Bangor Daily News''. March 7, 1941. p. 13. * ''Me and Harry'' (1941)"Artists' Theatre: 'Me and Harry'"
''The Boston Globe''. August 26, 1941. p. 23. * ''Watch for the Morning'' (1941)
''Christmas Fantasy''
''Park Bench''
''Standing Room Only''

Fiction

Novels

* ''Don't Wait Up for Spring'' (1944) * ''His Days are as Grass'' (1946) * ''This Spring of Love'' (1948) * ''It's Only Temporary'' (1951)Litten,. Frederic Nelson (February 4, 1951)
"Ah, Life in Suburbia, or O, the Futility of It All"
''Chicago Sunday Tribune''. Pt. 4, pg. 6 * ''With Kisses Four'' (1954)Boucher, Anthony (May 16, 1954)
"Criminals at Large"
''The New York Times''. p. BR25. * ''The Bramble Bush'' (novel, 1958) * ''The Lonely Ones''—aka ''The Girl Cage''—and ''Tiger by the Tail'' (1959, both published posthumously)

Filmography

Television

* ''

Kraft Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Chees ...

''
"The Picture Window" (1954)
"Split Level" (1954) * ''

Ponds Theater ''Pond's Theater'' is a 60-minute television anthology series sponsored by Pond's Creams that was produced by the J. Walter Thompson Agency on ABC-TV. Its original title was '' Kraft Television Theatre'', but when Kraft decided to drop the Thurs ...

''
"See You on Sunday" (1954)
"The Rugged Mountains" (1955) * ''

The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse ''The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse'' is an American dramatic anthology series that aired on ABC from 1953 to 1955, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. The show was hosted by Arlene Dahl (1953), Anita Colby (1954), and, finally, Polly Bergen (1955). Initially the se ...

''
"I'll Be Waiting" (story, 1955) * ''

Matinee Theatre ''Matinee Theater'' is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955, to June 27, 1958. Its name is often seen as ''Matinee Theatre''. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. E ...

''
"See You on Sunday" (1955)
"Herself Alone" (1956) * ''

Star Tonight ''Star Tonight'', an American television anthology series, aired on ABC from February 3, 1955, to August 1956. It consisted of 80 total episodes, 30 from 1955 and 50 from 1956. Each episode was a self-contained story, usually adapted from famous ...

''
"Three Hours Between Planes" (adaptation, 1956) * ''

The Man Called X ''The Man Called X'' is an espionage radio drama that aired on CBS and NBC from July 10, 1944, to May 20, 1952. The radio series was later adapted for television and was broadcast for one season, 1956–1957. People Herbert Marshall had the lead ...

''
"Forged Documents" (story, 1957)

Film

* '' The Bramble Bush'' (novel, 1960)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mergendahl, Charles 1919 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American short story writers Accidental deaths from falls American male novelists American male screenwriters American male short story writers American sailors American war novelists Military personnel from New York (state) Novelists from Massachusetts Novelists from New York (state) People from Glen Cove, New York People from Lynn, Massachusetts People from Newton, Massachusetts Screenwriters from Massachusetts Screenwriters from New York (state) Harvard University alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni United Church of Christ members United States Navy personnel of World War II