George Axelrod (June 9, 1922 – June 21, 2003) was an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, producer,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

, best known for his play ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage rol ...

'' (1952), which was adapted into a film of the same name starring

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. Axelrod was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for his 1961 adaptation of

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

's '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'' and also adapted Richard Condon's '' The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962).

Early life and family

Axelrod was born in New York City, the son of Beatrice Carpenter, a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

actress, and Herman Axelrod, a Columbia graduate who had worked on the school's annual Varsity Show with Oscar Hammerstein and who later went into

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

. His father was Russian Jewish and his mother was of Scottish and English descent.George Axelrod Biography (1922-) University of California Press: "George Axelrod: Irony!" Interview by Pat McGilligan
/ref> He was the father of lawyer Peter Axelrod; Steven Axelrod, painting contractor and writer;

Nina Axelrod Nina Kether Axelrod (born July 28, 1955) is an American actress who appeared in films and television mainly during the late 1970s through the early 1980s. Since the early 1990s, she has worked as a casting director on films and taught drama in sc ...

, actress and stepfather of screenwriter

Jonathan Axelrod Jonathan Axelrod (born 1949) is an American producer and screenwriter. Axelford wrote for film ''Every Little Crook and Nanny'' (1972). He was executive producer on the television series ''Dave's World ''Dave's World'' is an American sitcom ...

(who married the actress Illeana Douglas). He was a grandfather of actor

Taliesin Jaffe Taliesin Axelrod Armstrong Jaffe (; born January 19, 1977) is an American voice actor, voice director and screenwriter. He has worked on English- dubbing roles for anime and video games. He is a cast member on ''Critical Role'', a web series in wh ...

Career

Radio and Broadway

Early in his career, Axelrod worked in summer stock theater as a stage manager and an occasional actor. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was a member of the Army Signal Corps. When he returned to civilian life, he wrote for ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'', ''Midnight'', ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a div ...

'', and other radio programs. With the advent of television, he wrote for that medium, too, eventually working on more than 400 TV and radio scripts. Comedians for whom he wrote included

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

and

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

Axelrod wrote the 1952 stage comedy, ''

'', a risqué social satire about a middle-class man who has an affair while his wife and children are on vacation. ''The Seven Year Itch'' was first presented by Courtney Burr and Elliot Nugent at the Fulton Theatre, New York City, on July 15, 1952.

Television

Axelrod's overnight success prompted him to write a seriocomic teleplay, ''Confessions of a Nervous Man'', starring Art Carney as a playwright waiting anxiously in a Theater District bar for the newspaper reviews of his first play to hit the streets. Based on his own experiences on the opening night of ''The Seven Year Itch'', the one-hour play was presented as the November 30, 1953, episode of '' Studio One''. He appeared on television himself occasionally as a guest panelist on ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

Films

The Broadway success of ''The Seven Year Itch'' led to the successful 1955 film directed by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...

and starring

. The plot was altered so that the husband ( Tom Ewell) only fantasizes about having an affair. Axelrod's next stage hit was '' Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'', a

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

ian comedy about a fan magazine writer ( Orson Bean) selling his soul to the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

(in the guise of a

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

) to become a successful

. It ran for more than a year on Broadway in 1955–56 and received much attention in the national press thanks to its star, Jayne Mansfield. The screen rights were bought by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

, but the studio had director/screenwriter

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director. He was best k ...

change the story to a satire on television

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and throw out all of Axelrod's characters except Rita Marlowe (with Mansfield recreating her stage role). Axelrod was contemptuous of the 1957 film version, saying that he did not go to see it because the studio "never used my story, my play or my script." In 1959–60,

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...

starred in his comic play ''Goodbye Charlie'' which ran for 109 performances, followed by a film version with

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Axelrod was one of the best paid screenwriters in Hollywood, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1961 adaptation of

's '' Breakfast at Tiffany's''. He was highly regarded for his adaptation of Richard Condon's novel for director John Frankenheimer's Cold War thriller '' The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962) starring

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

. Axelrod, who co-produced, considered it his best screen adaptation. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, the movie was taken out of circulation and wasn't re-released until 1988, when it became a box office hit and was deemed by critics to be a classic of American cinema. Axelrod wrote the original screenplay for ''

How to Murder Your Wife ''How to Murder Your Wife'' is a 1965 American black comedy film from United Artists, produced by George Axelrod, directed by Richard Quine, that stars Jack Lemmon and Virna Lisi. Quine also directed Lemmon in '' My Sister Eileen'', ''It Happ ...

'' (1965), directed by Richard Quine with

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadi ...

, Virna Lisi and

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

. Axelrod directed ''

Lord Love a Duck ''Lord Love a Duck'' is a 1966 American teen black comedy film produced, directed and co-written by George Axelrod and starring Roddy McDowall and Tuesday Weld. The film was a satire of popular culture at the time, its targets ranging from progr ...

'' (1966), and two years later, he directed '' The Secret Life of an American Wife'' (1968). After a decade hiatus, he returned to films providing the screenplay for an unsuccessful remake of '' The Lady Vanishes'' (1979). Subsequent contributions include the scripts for Frankenheimer's ''The Holcroft Covenant'' (1985) and ''The Fourth Protocol'' (1987).

Novels

Axelrod published three novels: ''Blackmailer'' (1952), a darkly comic mystery; ''Beggar's Choice'' (1947), a comedy of role reversal; and ''Where Am I Now When I Need Me?'' (1971), a humorous overview of the Hollywood scene.

Death

On June 21, 2003, at the age of 81, Axelrod died quietly at his Los Angeles home. He was under hospice care after a lingering illness. His body was cremated.

Filmography

Film adaptations

*''

'', directed by

(1955, based on the play ''

'') *'' Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'', directed by

(1957, based on the play '' Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'') *''

Goodbye Charlie ''Goodbye Charlie'' is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds and Pat Boone. The film is about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's 1959 pl ...

'', directed by

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), ' ...

(1964, based on the play ''Goodbye Charlie'')

Screenwriter

*'' Phffft!'', directed by Mark Robson (1954) *''

Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

'', directed by

Joshua Logan Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American director, writer, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical ''South Pacific'' and was involved in writing other musicals. Early years Logan w ...

(1956) *'' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', directed by

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...

(1961) *'' The Manchurian Candidate'', directed by John Frankenheimer (1962) *'' Paris When It Sizzles'', directed by Richard Quine (1964) *''

'', directed by Richard Quine (1965) *''

'', directed by George Axelrod (1966) *'' The Secret Life of an American Wife'', directed by George Axelrod (1968) *'' The Lady Vanishes'', directed by Anthony Page (1979) *'' The Holcroft Covenant'', directed by John Frankenheimer (1985) *''

The Fourth Protocol ''The Fourth Protocol'' is a thriller novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth, published in August 1984. Etymology The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which (at least in the world of the novel) contained four secr ...

'', directed by John Mackenzie (1987) *'' The Manchurian Candidate'', directed by

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film '' Caged Heat'', befo ...

(2004); remake of the 1962 film and adapted in part from Axelrod's script

Director

*''

'' (1966) *'' The Secret Life of an American Wife'' (1968)

Producer

*'' The Manchurian Candidate'', directed by John Frankenheimer (1962) *'' Paris When It Sizzles'', directed by Richard Quine (1964) *''

'', directed by Richard Quine (1965) *''

'', directed by George Axelrod (1966) *'' The Secret Life of an American Wife'', directed by George Axelrod (1968)

References

External links

* *
''Confessions of a Nervous Man'' at IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Axelrod, George 1922 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Scottish descent American people of English descent American male screenwriters Film directors from New York City American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American screenwriters United States Army personnel of World War II