Raphael David Blau (August 11, 1912 – March 31, 1996) was an American screenwriter who co-wrote the story for ''

Bedtime for Bonzo ''Bedtime for Bonzo'' is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova and starring Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and a chimpanzee named Tamba as Bonzo. Its central character, psychology professor Peter Boyd (Reagan), tries to teach human m ...

'' (1951), among other film productions.Scott, Janny (1 April 1996)
Raphael Blau, Writer, 83, Dies; Did 'Bedtime for Bonzo' Story
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Blau was raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His first film credit was for ''

Mother Is a Freshman ''Mother Is a Freshman'' is a 1949 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Loretta Young and Van Johnson. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design by Kay Nelson. Plot Abby Abbott lives in New York ...

'' (1949). Based on seeing research speculation that a chimpanzee might be able to be raised like a human child, he conceived of the ''Bedtime for Bonzo'' story. He shared a script with his brother-in-law,

Ted Berkman Ted Berkman (January 9, 1914 – May 12, 2006) was an American author, screenwriter and journalist best known for writing the screenplay for ''Bedtime for Bonzo''. Early life and career He was born Edward Oscar Berkmann in Brooklyn, New York in 1 ...

, and becoming partners on this and other projects, both received a story credit for the film.(21 November 1980)
Bonzo hopes to get banana republic post
''

Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Lie ...

''Sheff, David (15 December 1980)
Two Ex-Screenwriters Turn the 1980 Election into Boomtime for Bonzo and Their Own Bonanza
''

People (magazine) ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the la ...

'' ''

Fear Strikes Out "Fear Strikes Out" is a 1957 American biographical sports drama film depicting the life and career of American baseball player Jimmy Piersall. It is based on Piersall's 1955 memoir ''Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story'', co-written with Al ...

'' (1957) about the baseball player

Jimmy Piersall James Anthony Piersall (November 14, 1929 – June 3, 2017) was an American baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967. Piersall was best known for his well-publicized ba ...

brought Blau and Berkman their greatest acclaim. In 1962, Blau and his wife Helen moved to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Their son Joel Blau is a professor at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

School of Social Welfare in New York.Joel, D.S.W.
stonybrookmedicalcenter.com, Retrieved February 7, 2012Blau, Joel
The Visible Poor: Homelessness in the United States
(1992) (acknowledgments thank parents Raphael and Helen) Their daughter Deborah Blau is a graphic artist and tour guide who lives in New York City.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blau, Raphael American male screenwriters 1912 births 1996 deaths Writers from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters