Norman Wexler (August 16, 1926 – August 23, 1999) was an American screenwriter whose work included films such as ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends h ...

'', ''

Serpico ''Serpico'' is a 1973 American neo-noir biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino in the title role. The screenplay was adapted by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler from the book of the same name written by ...

'' and '' Joe''. A

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American p ...

native and 1944 Central High School graduate in Detroit, Wexler attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

before moving to New York in 1951.

Career

Wexler wrote the screenplays for several hit films, most notably '' Joe'', ''

'', '' Mandingo'' and ''

''. He received Oscar nominations for '' Joe'' and ''

''. According to

Bob Zmuda Bob Zmuda (born December 12, 1949) is an American writer, comedian, producer, and director best known for his friendship with comedian Andy Kaufman. Biography Bob Zmuda occasionally portrayed Kaufman's Tony Clifton character on stage and for tel ...

, ''Saturday Night Fever'' made Wexler a wealthy man. He was a much sought-after

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other eleme ...

, reworking the scripts for ''

Lipstick Lipstick is a cosmetic product used to apply coloration and texture to lips, often made of wax and oil. Different pigments are used to produce color, and minerals such as silica may be used to provide texture. The use of lipstick dates bac ...

'' and '' The Fan''. Wexler also was a serious and accomplished playwright. Several of his plays were produced off-Broadway and in regional theaters. His play ''The Rope'' was produced at Cafe La MaMa on New York, ''Red's My Color, What's Yours?'' won the Cleveland Playhouse Award, and his most recent work ''Forgive Me, Forgive Me Not'' was staged in Los Angeles in 1996, winning the Julie Harris Playwright Award, three years before his death.

Health, personal life, and character inspirations

He was reported to have suffered from severe

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

, reportedly

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevat ...

, and was arrested in 1972 for threatening to shoot President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. In the book ''Andy Kaufman Revealed'',

, Kaufman's friend and writer, relates his experiences working as an assistant for an extremely eccentric, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, prone to pulling stunts that ranged from the bizarre to the profane. Zmuda refers to the man by the alias Mr X. Mr X's wild antics and boorish behavior are said to have been a major influence in creating Andy Kaufman's iconic alter-ego, the obnoxious lounge lizard Tony Clifton. Zmuda does not confirm Mr. X's identity in the book. However, on the ''

WTF with Marc Maron ''WTF with Marc Maron'' is a weekly podcast and radio show hosted by stand-up comedian Marc Maron. The show was launched in September 2009. The show is produced by Maron's former Air America co-worker Brendan McDonald. Background The show's ti ...

'' podcast, he confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was Wexler. His last manic episode, from November 1998 to February 1999, took a toll on his health. Early in the morning of August 23, 1999, Wexler died of a heart attack at age 73.

Screenplays

* '' Joe'' (1970) * ''

'' (with Waldo Salt) (1973) * '' Mandingo'' (1975) * ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

'' (1976) * ''

'' (1977) * '' Staying Alive'' (with

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

) (1983) * '' Raw Deal'' (with Gary DeVore) (1986)

References

External links

* *
Michigan Jewish History, periodic publication
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wexler, Norman 1926 births 1999 deaths American male screenwriters Harvard University alumni People with bipolar disorder People from New Bedford, Massachusetts Screenwriters from Massachusetts 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters Central High School (Detroit) alumni