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Jay Presson Allen (March 3, 1922 – May 1, 2006) was an American screenwriter, playwright, stage director, television producer, and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes-off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession.''New York Times'', Obituary. May 2, 2006. "You write to please yourself," she said, "The only office where there's no superior is the office of the scribe."''L.A. Times.'' October 5, 1982. 6.


Early life

Allen was born Jacqueline Presson in
San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
, the only child of Willie Mae (née Miller), a buyer, and Albert Jack Presson, a department store merchant. She was "never particularly fond of her given name", and decided to use her first initial when writing. She would spend every Saturday and Sunday in the movie house, from one o'clock until somebody dragged her out at seven. From that time on movies became very important to her, and Allen knew she wouldn't be staying in West Texas. Allen attended Miss Hockaday's School for Young Ladies in Dallas for a couple of years, but came away, in her words, "having had no education to speak of."McGilligan, 1986. She skipped college and at 18 left home to become an actress. In New York, her career lasted "for about twenty-five minutes", Allen says, when she realized that she only liked rehearsals and the first week of performance, and would rather be "out there" where the decisions were being made.Acker, 1991. pp. 201–203. In the early 1940s, Allen married "the first grown man who asked me," Robert M. Davis, a promising young singer, and they lived in
Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...
during World War II. She continued acting while in California; she has a small credited role (under the name Jay Presson) in the 1945 film ''
An Angel Comes to Brooklyn ''An Angel Comes to Brooklyn'' is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Leslie Goodwins and written by June Carroll and Stanley Paley. The film stars Kaye Dowd, Robert Duke, David Street, Barbara Perry, Charles Kemper and Marguerite d'Alvare ...
'' and can be glimpsed briefly as "Miss Zelda" in the 1946 film ''
Gay Blades ''Gay Blades'' is a 1946 American comedy film directed by George Blair and written by Albert Beich and Marcy Klauber. The film stars Allan Lane, Jean Rogers, Edward Ashley, Frank Albertson, Ann Gillis and Robert Armstrong. The film was relea ...
''.


Writing career

Allen became a writer by default, having always read constantly. Being able to write pretty well, she decided to "write her way out" of the marriage and set out to become financially independent of her husband. She always claimed her first husband's big fault was marrying someone too young. Her debut novel, '' Spring Riot'', was published in 1948 and got mixed reviews. Her next effort was a play, which she sent to producer Bob Whitehead. Because he had produced '' Member of the Wedding'', she thought he would like it since her play was also about a child, but the play came back from Whitehead's office rejected. Allen waited for a couple of months and sent it back, rightly figuring that some reader had rejected it instead of Whitehead himself. This time Whitehead read the play and instantly
optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...
it, but due to casting problems her play was never produced on stage. The reader who had initially rejected her play was
Lewis M. Allen Lewis Maitland Allen (June 27, 1922 Berryville, Virginia – December 8, 2003 New York City) was an American film producer and Tony Award winning Broadway producer. He was married to screenwriter Jay Presson Allen. Allen was nominated for s ...
, whom she would later marry.


Second marriage

Allen returned to New York and performed on radio and in cabaret, both of which she loathed, and would go through the whole performance wishing to be fired. In the meantime she started writing again, little by little, and sold some of her work to live television programs like ''
The Philco Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golde ...
''. When she married Lewis M. Allen in 1955, they moved to the countryside, where Lewis wrote and Allen in her words "didn't want to do anything." She had a baby, and spent two and a half "absolutely wonderful years in the country." Eventually the couple came back to the city to work. By then, Bob Whitehead had become a good friend and encouraged Allen to write another play. She drew on her married life and wrote ''The First Wife'', about a suburban working couple. It was made into the film ''
Wives and Lovers "Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles, most notably by Jack Jones in 1963. That recording earned the 1964 Grammy Award for B ...
'' in 1963, starring
Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...
and
Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment ...
. When Allen read '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', by
Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...
, she instantly saw play potential where no one else did. After undergoing
hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th c ...
to alleviate a yearlong bout of writer's block, Allen produced a draft of the play in three days.


Career


''Marnie''

While ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' was still an unproduced script,
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
read it and offered Allen the script for ''
Marnie ''Marnie'' is an English crime novel, written by Winston Graham and first published in 1961. It has been adapted as a film, a stage play and an opera. Plot ''Marnie'' is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling her employers' funds, ...
'' (1964). Hitchcock brought Allen to California to work on the film at
Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
in the San Fernando Valley. Allen, who lived close by, would bicycle to work. This upset Hitchcock, who insisted that a limousine be sent for her every day, whether she wanted it or not. On days when she tried to walk to the studio, the limousine trailed along behind her. In Allen's opinion, she couldn't learn fast enough to make a first-rate movie, although she thought ''Marnie'' did have some good scenes in it. Hitchcock would have made her a director but she told him no. Said Allen: "It seems perfectly clear to me that any project takes a minimum of a year to direct. I like to get things on and over with. ... Did you ever hear the phrase, 'the lady proposes, the studio disposes'? I didn't make it up. I would never propose myself as a director." Under Hitchcock's mentoring, Allen developed the screenwriting talent she would use the rest of her career. Allen wrote that she never felt discriminated against. While being one of the rare female screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1960s, she said "almost all of the men I worked with were supportive. If I was getting a bum rap somewhere, I didn't know it."


''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie''

'' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', about an iconoclast Scottish girls' school teacher, did not premiere on the London stage until after ''Marnies completion. Produced by Donald Albery, it premiered at the Wyndham's Theatre in May 1966 with Vanessa Redgrave and ran hundreds of performances. In January 1968, it opened in New York with Zoe Caldwell as Brodie and ran for an entire year. Allen also wrote the screenplay for the 1969 film starring Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens. Said Allen: "All the women who played Brodie got whatever prize was going around at that time. Vanessa did, Maggie mithdid".


''Forty Carats''

After ''Jean Brodie'', Allen had another success on Broadway with ''
Forty Carats ''Forty Carats'' is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks dow ...
'' (1968). Her adaptation of the French boulevard comedy by
Pierre Barillet Pierre Barillet (24 August 1923 – 8 January 2019) was a French playwright. Biography Barillet was born in Paris, France. Passionate about theatre since childhood, he wrote his first play, ''Les Héritiers'', in 1945 after being a law student ...
and
Jean-Pierre Gredy Jean-Pierre Grédy, often anglicised as Gredy (16 August 1920 – 6 February 2022) was a French playwright. Biography After studying literature and law, Grédy entered IDHEC because he wanted to write screenplays. He wrote the screenplay for ...
premiered in December 1968 with
Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play. Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wis ...
as the 42-year-old who has an affair with a 22-year-old man.''The Guardian Obituary'', May 5, 2006; accessed October 17, 2014. Harris won a Tony Award for her performance. In 1973, Allen adapted her play for the screen, which turned out to be a critical and commercial disappointment.''Alternate Film Guide''. May 2, 2006; accessed October 16, 2014.


''Travels with My Aunt''

Bobby Fryer, who had produced the ''Jean Brodie'' film, had collaborated with
Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
to make the film version of
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
's '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1972), specifically for
George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
to direct. Cukor for some reason wasn't getting any work and Hepburn was casting around for projects. They asked Allen to come on board for the script, but she was busy and instead suggested Hugh Wheeler. After a few months, Fryer and Hepburn still weren't happy with Wheeler's script, so Allen agreed to work on the project and wrote a very straightforward script for them. But Hepburn had just starred in the disastrous adaptation of ''
Madwoman of Chaillot ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (french: La Folle de Chaillot) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woma ...
'' and didn't want, in Allen's words, "to play another crazy old lady." Hepburn was reluctant to let Cukor down and wouldn't admit her reservations and began to find fault with the script, even rewriting many sections herself. Consequently, Allen finally gave up the endeavor, telling Hepburn that she ought to write it herself, which the actress did. Eventually, Hepburn provoked the studio into making her quit the project, leaving Fryer free to bring ''Jean Brodies Maggie Smith onto the picture. One speech of Allen's remains in the script, otherwise it is all Hepburn's product. The Writer's Guild refused to put Hepburn's name on the script because she wasn't a guild member; Fryer refused to let Allen take her name off because she was the one he paid, and Wheeler was burned that he received no credit at all.


''Cabaret''

Structure was what Allen brought to the screenplay for
Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. He directed and choreographed musical works on stage and screen, including the stage musicals ''The Pajam ...
's ''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or ...
''. The producers hadn't wanted to film the stage script by
Joe Masteroff Joe Masteroff (December 11, 1919 – September 28, 2018) was an American playwright. Early life Masteroff was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Jewish parents Louis Masteroff from Korsun, Russia (now Ukraine) and to the former Rose Pogost fr ...
and
John Van Druten John William Van Druten (1 June 190119 December 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observation ...
, and felt that not portraying the male lead as a homosexual was dishonest to the story. They wanted to go back to
Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...
's original novel ''
Goodbye to Berlin ''Goodbye to Berlin'' is a 1939 novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood set during the waning days of the Weimar Republic. The novel recounts Isherwood's 1929–1932 sojourn as a pleasure-seeking British expatriate on the eve of Ado ...
'' of 1939, but the Berlin stories weren't structured in any linear fashion and Allen had to diagram the entire story.Crist, 1984. pp.282–311. Allen and Fosse got along badly from the start: she found him "so depressed that it took two hours just to get him in the frame of mind for work." In Allen's opinion most of the humor from the original was lost; she believed Fosse didn't really like the lead character of Sally Bowles at all. She worked on the screenplay for ten months, but in the end Fosse and the producers were still unhappy with the final form, and having commitments elsewhere, Allen handed the script over to her friend Hugh Wheeler.


''Funny Lady''

In Allen's opinion, the problem with '' Funny Lady'' was that
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
had not wanted to do a sequel to '' Funny Girl'' and was determined to give the director,
Herbert Ross Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing ...
, a hard time. The picture does, however, contain some of Allen's most satisfying work, some of which she doesn't remember writing and just seems to have come out of nowhere.


''Family''

The idea for the television show '' Family'' was born in
Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986) ...
's kitchen, where he and Leonard Goldberg came up with the idea about a show that centered on the emotional life of a family. They pitched the idea to Allen and she liked it. Allen spent two weeks at the
Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Hollywood film stars, rock stars, and ce ...
while she knocked out a script. Len and Aaron loved it; it was touching and had marvelous moments of compassion, and was exactly what they had talked about in the kitchen. The pilot was great, but
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
didn't buy it. It wasn't until two years later that ABC entered a production deal with Mike Nichols, who turned down all their ideas in favor of the script for ''Family'' that his Connecticut neighbor Jay Allen had shown him. It was Nichols who brought in
Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
for the pilot which premiered at 10:00pm on March 9, 1976; the series went on to run for four years and 86 episodes. Later in life Allen would remark about television: "I hate it, I hate it because the buck doesn't stop anywhere."


''Just Tell Me What You Want!''

"Male characters are easier to write. They're simpler. I think women are generally more psychologically complicated. You have to put a little more effort into writing a woman." – Jay Presson Allen. Allen wrote the novel ''Just Tell Me What You Want!'' in 1969, with the idea of turning it into a screenplay. After having trouble getting together a production, Allen sent it to Sidney Lumet, who surprisingly wanted to do it. In her opinion, Lumet was a wonderful structuralist but has his most difficult time with humorous dialogue; he hadn't found a way to shoot humorous dialogue as brilliantly as he shot everything else.


''Prince of the City''

When Allen read Robert Daley's book, ''Prince of the City'' (1978), she was convinced it was a Sidney Lumet project, but the film rights had already been sold to
Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
for
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
and
David Rabe David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 ('' Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 (''In the Boom Boom Room''), 1 ...
. Allen let it be known that if that deal should fall through, then she wanted the picture for Sidney. Just as Lumet was about to sign for a different picture, they got the call that ''Prince of the City'' was theirs. Allen hadn't wanted to write ''
Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American neo-noir crime drama film directed and co-written by Sidney Lumet. The film follows Daniel Ciello, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for idealistic reasons, to expose corruption i ...
'', just produce it. She was put off by the book's non-linear story structure, but Lumet wouldn't make the picture without her and agreed to write the outline for her. Lumet and Allen went over the book and agreed on what they could use and what they could do without. To her horror, Lumet would come in every day for weeks and scribble on legal pads. She was terrified that she would have to tell him that his stuff was unusable, but to her delight the outline was wonderful and she went to work. It was her first project with living subjects, and Allen interviewed nearly everyone in the book and had endless hours of Bob Leuci's tapes for back-up. With all her research and Lumet's outline, she eventually turned out a 365-page script in 10 days. It was nearly impossible to sell the studio on a three-hour picture, but by offering to slash the budget to $10 million they agreed. When asked if the original author ever has anything to say about how their book is treated, Allen replied: "Not if I can help it. You cannot open that can of worms. You sell your book, you go to the bank, you shut up."


''Deathtrap''

Allen adapted
Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), ''The Stepford Wives'' (1972), '' This Perfe ...
's play '' Deathtrap'' (1982) for Lumet, exchanging a weak, confusing ending for a more directly resolved one. Though not being able to do what a screenwriter needs to do to a play – "opening it up," taking it outside the original set or sets, make it bigger – she was limited to bookending the script with scenes in a New York theater. The plotting was so very tight, which is what the studio executives had wanted when they bought it. It was up to Allen to cut away the underbrush, simplifying the rhetoric as much as possible and adding some realism to the characters.


''La Cage Aux Folles''

Allen returned to the stage with an adaptation for
Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
of ''A Little Family Business'', a French boulevard comedy by
Pierre Barillet Pierre Barillet (24 August 1923 – 8 January 2019) was a French playwright. Biography Barillet was born in Paris, France. Passionate about theatre since childhood, he wrote his first play, ''Les Héritiers'', in 1945 after being a law student ...
and
Jean-Pierre Gredy Jean-Pierre Grédy, often anglicised as Gredy (16 August 1920 – 6 February 2022) was a French playwright. Biography After studying literature and law, Grédy entered IDHEC because he wanted to write screenplays. He wrote the screenplay for ...
. She was also hired by Broadway producer
Allan Carr Allan Carr (born Allan Solomon; May 27, 1937 – June 29, 1999) was an American producer and manager of stage for the screen. Carr was nominated for numerous awards, winning a Tony Award and two People's Choice Awards, and was named Producer of ...
to adapt Jean Pioret's non-musical 1973 play '' La Cage Aux Folles'' as a musical reset in New Orleans. The never-to-be-produced production was called ''The Queen of Basin Street'', and was to be directed by Mike Nichols with Tommy Tune choreographing and
Maury Yeston Maury Yeston (born October 23, 1945) is an American composer, lyricist and music theorist. He is known as the initiator of new Broadway musicals and writing their music and lyrics, as well as a classical orchestral and ballet composer, Yale Univ ...
writing the songs. Nichols, who was a producing partner with Lewis Allen, eventually quit in a dispute over profits; Tommy Tune followed him and Carr fired Jay Allen. When Carr finally produced a musical version, Allen was forced to file suit for payment from her work on the adaptation.


''The Verdict''

"What I really like to do is a very swift rewrite for a great deal of money. Then I'm out of it. There's no emotional commitment at all – your name's not on it, you're home free", she would explain. Twentieth-Century Fox brought Allen in for a rewrite when they were unhappy with the script that David Mamet had produced from Barry Reed's novel '' The Verdict'', thinking he had deviated too much from the original material. She produced a script they were happy with, but then handed it to Robert Redford, who began to tinker it to fit his persona. Eventually the producers took it away from Redford and offered it to Lumet, who had just seen a production of Mamet's, '' American Buffalo'' with
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy A ...
, and preferred to use Mamet's original script. In the end the studio had paid both Allen and Redford and ended up with Mamet's original script anyway.


''Hothouse''

Allen tried to recapture the success of ''Family'' with ''Hothouse'' for ABC in 1988; the drama about the lives and work experiences of the staff of a mental hospital lasted eight episodes. Personally Allen thought it was some of her best work, though its short life was a mixed blessing for her, said Allen: "Unfortunately, ABC didn't have the courage of their initial convictions. They skewered it, they turned tail on it. However if they had picked it up I'd have had to turn out 26 episodes. I'd be in Forest Lawn now. Television is a killer. It is really not for sissies."Gardner. 1991


''Tru''

The 1991 Broadway production of '' Tru'' starring
Robert Morse Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor, who starred in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', both the 1961 original Broadway production, for which he won a Tony Award, and its 1967 film adaptati ...
as
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, ...
was actually a request of the lawyer for the Capote Estate. Allen was reluctant to write about Capote at first, but once she had researched him, she found the last ten years of his life not as off-putting as she had thought: "Capote had a kind of Gallantry in the face of a devastating situation." Friends of Capote were amazed at her accuracy portraying a man she had only met but not known, and there was much question about how many of the lines are Capote's and how many Allen's; she maintained that at least 70% of the dialogue is Capote's own.


Script doctor

When she wasn't writing, Allen and her husband were among the most visible of Manhattan's theater crowd. She would spend her later years as a script doctor and observing particularly salacious crime trials from the benches in Manhattan Criminal Court. Allen had just about given up writing any more movies from beginning to end, preferring to do lucrative rewrites. It had stopped being fun for her. Script 'development' translated to 'scripts written by committee', but the upside was that "developed" scripts tend to need rewrites – from outside the "development circle".
"A production rewrite means that the project is in production. Big money elements – directors, actors – are pay or play. There is a shooting date. The shit is in the fan. And that's where writers like me come in. Writers who are fast and reliable. We are nicely paid to do these production rewrites... and we love these jobs. Without credit? Never with credit. If you go for credit on somebody else's work, you have to completely dismantle the structure. Who wants a job where you have to completely dismantle the structure? I only take things that I think are in reasonable shape. The director and the producer and the studio may not necessarily agree with me, but I think the script is in reasonable shape. Besides, no one but the writer ever knows how much trouble any one piece of work will be. Only the writer knows that. Only the writer. So I take what looks to me like something that is in good enough shape, yet which I can contribute to and make it worth the pay they are going to give me... There are more than one of us out there. These jobs are quick, sometimes they're even fun, and you don't have to take the terrible meetings. They're not breathing on you. They're just desperate to get a script. I've never taken anything that I knew I couldn't help. They pay good money."
In 1986, she had signed an agreement with Lorimar-Telepictures in order to help develop, write and produce projects, in collaboration with
ABC Entertainment The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...
. Her last film work was her screenplay for the 1990 remake of the classic, '' Lord of the Flies''. However, she disliked the finished product and had her name removed. The trick in adapting, Allen said in a 1972 interview with '' The New York Times'', "is not to throw out the baby with the bath water. You can change all kinds of things, but don't muck around with the essence."


Death

Jay Presson Allen died May 1, 2006 at her home in Manhattan following a stroke, aged 84.


Awards and honors

In 1982, Allen was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. The papers of Jay Presson Allen and her husband
Lewis M. Allen Lewis Maitland Allen (June 27, 1922 Berryville, Virginia – December 8, 2003 New York City) was an American film producer and Tony Award winning Broadway producer. He was married to screenwriter Jay Presson Allen. Allen was nominated for s ...
are held at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the p ...
in Austin, Texas.


Credits


Novels

* ''Spring Riot'' (1948; as Jay Presson) * ''Just Tell Me What You Want'' (1975)


Film

* ''
Wives and Lovers "Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles, most notably by Jack Jones in 1963. That recording earned the 1964 Grammy Award for B ...
'' (1963; play ''The First Wife'') * ''
Marnie ''Marnie'' is an English crime novel, written by Winston Graham and first published in 1961. It has been adapted as a film, a stage play and an opera. Plot ''Marnie'' is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling her employers' funds, ...
'' (1964; screenplay) * '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969; screenplay; play) * ''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or ...
'' (1972; screenplay) * '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1972; writer) * '' 40 Carats'' (1973; writer) * '' Funny Lady'' (1975; screenplay) * '' It's My Turn'' (1980; executive producer) * ''
Just Tell Me What You Want ''Just Tell Me What You Want'' is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Sidney Lumet. It stars Ali MacGraw, Peter Weller and Alan King, and was also Myrna Loy's final film. The screenplay by Jay Presson Allen, adapted from her novel, won he ...
'' (1980; screenplay from her novel; producer) * ''
Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American neo-noir crime drama film directed and co-written by Sidney Lumet. The film follows Daniel Ciello, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for idealistic reasons, to expose corruption i ...
'' (1981; screenplay; executive producer) * '' Deathtrap'' (1982; screenplay; executive producer) * '' Lord of the Flies'' (1990; under the pseudonym Sara Schiff)


as an uncredited script doctor

* ''
Never Cry Wolf ''Never Cry Wolf'' is an account of the author's experience observing wolves in subarctic Canada by Farley Mowat, first published in 1963 by McClelland and Stewart. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1983. It has been credited for dra ...
'' (1983; uncredited rewrite) * '' Copycat'' (1995; uncredited rewrite)


Stage plays

* '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1966), adaptation * ''
Forty Carats ''Forty Carats'' is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks dow ...
'' (1968), adaptation * '' A Little Family Business'' (1982), adaptation * '' Tru'' (1989) and directed * ''
The Big Love ''The Big Love'', is a non-fiction scandalous biographical account of an alleged love affair between actor Errol Flynn and then fifteen-year-old actress Beverly Aadland, as told by her mother, Florence Aadland. The original 1961 edition was firs ...
'' (1991) and directed * '' La Cage aux Folles'' (1995), uncredited adaptation


Television

* ''
Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Is ...
'' (1953; writer of 2 episodes, "Surface Tension" and "Inside Straight" as Jay Presson) * ''
Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fin ...
'' (1954; writer of 1 episode "Brink of Disaster" as Jay Presson) * ''
The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golde ...
'' (1954; teleplay writer of 1 episode "Beg, Borrow or Steal" as Jay Presson) * '' Star Tonight'' (1955; writer of 1 episode "The Dark Search" as Jay Presson) * ''
Goodyear Playhouse ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Sponsored by Goodyear, Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the ''Philco Tel ...
'' (writer of 1 episode "Do It Yourself" as Jay Presson) * ''
The Borrowers ''The Borrowers'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author Mary Norton, published by Dent in 1952. It features a family of tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors of an English house and "borrow" from the big people in ...
'' (1973; teleplay) * '' Family'' pilot: "The Best Years" (1976; teleplay) * '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1978; teleplays) * '' Hothouse'' (1988; executive producer, creator) * '' American Playhouse: Tru'' (1992; teleplay)


References


Bibliography

* * * Crist, Judith (1984), ''Take 22: Moviemakers on Moviemaking'' (New York: Viking) * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Jay Presson Allen Papers
at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the p ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jay Presson 1922 births 2006 deaths Film producers from Texas 20th-century American novelists American women novelists American women screenwriters Screenwriters from Texas American television writers People from Fort Worth, Texas Writers Guild of America Award winners 20th-century American women writers American women film producers American women television writers Hockaday School alumni 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women