Loring Mandel (May 5, 1928 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright and screenwriter whose notable works include the TV movie ''

Conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

''. He wrote for radio, television, film and the stage.

Early and personal life

Mandel was a native of Chicago. He graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1949, after studying writing and drama. He married his wife Dorothy in 1950, and they had two sons, one of whom grew up to be a video game writer/designer. Mandel's first job upon returning to Chicago after graduation was as a music arranger for the

American Broadcasting Company 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, Cali ...

’s house orchestra. He supplemented his income by writing film trailers for motion pictures as well as television variety shows. Mandel next worked full-time for the W.B. Doner advertising agency until 1952 when he entered the army for service in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Career

Upon his release from the army in 1954, Mandel moved to New York and began his full-time career as a writer for the CBS anthologies ''Studio One in Hollywood'', ''The Seven Lively Arts"'' and ''Playhouse 90''. In 1959, his "Project Immortality" script for ''Playhouse 90'' won a Sylvania Award and his first Emmy nomination for best drama. In 1968 he won his first Emmy for "

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), and is one of his best-known works. Though first published in the journal ''Botteghe Oscure'' in 1951, the poem was written in ...

" on ''CBS Playhouse''. In 1971–72, he was head writer on the

CBS Daytime CBS Daytime is a division within CBS that is responsible for the daytime television block programming on the CBS' late morning and early afternoon schedule. The block has historically encompassed soap operas and game shows. Schedule NOTE: All tim ...

serial ''

Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation ''Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ''Th ...

'', for which he won the 1973 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Writing in a Daytime Serial. Mandel's best known and most acclaimed work was the 2001 TV film ''Conspiracy'', which dramatized the 1942 Wannsee Conference and featured an ensemble cast, including

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...

Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's ''Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in film ...

, and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

. The film was nominated for multiple awards and Mandel personally won the 2001 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing For a Miniseries or a Movie. In 2004, Mandel received the

Paddy Chayefsky Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was ...

lifetime achievement award at the 56th

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

s. On June 15, 2010, Steven Bowie interviewed Mandel for the Archive of American Television. Mandel's papers, scripts, articles, and correspondence are collected by the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, an archive of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Historical Society. In total, he and his dramas have been awarded two

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

awards (out of five total nominations), a Sylvania award, a number of Writers Guild Awards, two

Peabody award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

s, and a BAFTA as well. Mandel died on March 24, 2020, in

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The town is based in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 census. Lenox is the site of Shakespeare & Company and T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel, Loring 1928 births Primetime Emmy Award winners 2020 deaths American male screenwriters American soap opera writers Writers Guild of America Award winners University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of the Korean War Screenwriters from Illinois American male television writers