Jesse Louis Lasky Jr. (September 19, 1910 – April 11, 1988) was an American screenwriter, novelist, playwright and poet.

Early life

He was the son of film producer Jesse Lasky Sr. and his wife, Bessie Ida Ginsberg. Lasky was born on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, New York, and raised in Hollywood,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, in England and in France. He attended

Blair Academy Blair Academy is a coeducational, boarding and day school for students in high school. The school serves students from ninth through twelfth grades as well as a small post-graduate class. The school's campus is located on a campus in Blair ...

, the

Hun School of Princeton The Hun School of Princeton is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding school located in Princeton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students from sixth through twelfth grades. Currently, the head of school ...

Grand Central School of Art The Grand Central School of Art was an American art school in New York City, founded in 1923 by the painters Edmund Greacen, Walter Leighton Clark and John Singer Sargent. The school was established and run by the Grand Central Art Galleries, an ...

and the

University of Dijon A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, France, where he was awarded a degree in literature. After winning awards for poetry at the age of 17, he embarked on a career as a professional writer. He is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent.

Career

Lasky wrote eight novels, five plays, three books of poetry and more than 50 screenplays, including eight for director

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

. In addition to a

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

, he was a two-time winner of the ''

Boxoffice ''Boxoffice Pro'' is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by BoxOffice Media LP. History It started in 1920 as ''The Reel Journal'', taking the name ''Boxoffice'' in 1931 and still publishes today, with ...

'' Magazine Award: in 1949 for ''

Samson and Delilah Samson and Delilah are Biblical figures. Samson and Delilah may also refer to: In music * ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns * ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown * "Samson and Delilah" (t ...

'', and in 1956 for ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

''. Lasky's writing career took him from Hollywood to London, Rome, Austria, Denmark, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Greece and France. David Hempstead cowritten the script for '' Hell and High Water'' (1954) alongside Lasky.

World War II

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Lasky served as a captain in the Combat Photographic Units of the

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

during four campaigns in the Southwest

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, and was decorated by General Douglas MacArthur. He organised the Army School of Film Training at the Signal Corps Photographic Center, where writers were instructed to script training films for every branch of the military service.

Later life

Returning home after three-and-a-half years of military duty overseas, Lasky resumed his writing career with new books, plays, and films. He lectured on

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

and the history of Hollywood at many American and British institutions, including the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

. He also served as Vice President of the Screen Branch of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

. In 1962, Lasky and his wife, Pat Silver, moved to London. They also lived for part of the year in southern Spain, and travelled extensively. Lasky was a member of the London gentlemen's

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Ar ...

and the Company of Military Historians. Tsuguharu Foujita's painting of a 17-year-old Lasky, dating from a trip to Paris with his mother in the 1920s, appears on page 180 of Lasky's autobiography, ''Whatever Happened to Hollywood?'', which was published by

Funk and Wagnalls Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including ''A Standard Dictionary of the English Language'' (1st ed. 1893–5), and the ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia'' (25 volumes, 1st ed. 1912).Funk & Wagnalls N ...

in 1975. Lasky died on April 11, 1988 from pancreatic cancer.

Writer

Film

*''

Coming Out Party ''Coming Out Party'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code Hollywood, Pre-Code drama film directed by John G. Blystone starring Frances Dee, Gene Raymond, Alison Skipworth and Nigel Bruce. It was produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation. Syno ...

'' (1934) *''

Redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

'' (1934) *''

The White Parade ''The White Parade'' is a 1934 film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Loretta Young and John Boles. It was written by Rian James, Jesse Lasky Jr., Sonya Levien and Ernest Pascal, from the novel by Rian James. Dedicated to "the memory of ...

'' (1934) *'' Music is Magic'' (1935) *''

Secret Agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

'' (1936) *'' The Buccaneer'' (1938) *''

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

'' (1939) *'' Land of Liberty'' (1939) *'' North West Mounted Police'' (1940) *'' Back in the Saddle'' (1941) *''

Steel Against the Sky ''Steel Against the Sky'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, written by Paul Gerard Smith, and starring Lloyd Nolan, Alexis Smith, Craig Stevens, Gene Lockhart, Edward Ellis and Walter Catlett. It was released ...

'' (1941) *''The Singing Hill'' (1941) *''Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942) *''The Omaha Trail'' (1942) *''Unconquered (1947 film), Unconquered'' (1947) *''

'' (1949) *''The Sickle or the Cross'' (1949) *''Women Without Names (1950 film), Women Without Names'' (1950) *''Lorna Doone (1951 film), Lorna Doone'' (1951) *''Mask of the Avenger'' (1951) *''Never Trust a Gambler'' (1951) *''The Brigand (film), The Brigand'' (1951) *''Venture of Faith'' (1951) *''Salome (1953 film), Salome'' (1953) *''The Silver Whip'' (1953) *''Mission Over Korea'' (1953) *''The Iron Glove'' (1954) *'' Hell and High Water'' (1954) *''Pearl of the South Pacific'' (1955) *''Hot Blood (1956 film), Hot Blood'' (1956) *''

'' (1955) *''The Buccaneer (1958 film), The Buccaneer'' (1958) *''John Paul Jones (film), John Paul Jones'' (1959) *''The Wizard of Baghdad'' (1960) *''7 Women from Hell'' (1961) *''Pirates of Tortuga'' (1961) *''Land Raiders (film), Land Raiders'' (1970) *''Crime and Passion'' (1976) *''The Bulldance'' (1989)

Television

*''Waterfront (1955 TV series), Waterfront'' (1954) *''Studio 57'' (1955) *''Naked City (TV series), Naked City'' (1958) *''Rescue 8'' (1958-1959) *''Shannon (1961 TV series), Shannon'' (1961) *''The New Breed (TV series), The New Breed'' (1961-1962) *''The Saint (TV series), The Saint'' (1965) *''Songs of the Wild West'' (1965, TV Movie) *''Chicago in the Roaring 20's'' (1965, TV Movie) *''Danger Man'' (1966) *''The Protectors'' (1973) *''Ben Hall (TV series), Ben Hall'' (1975) *''Space: 1999'' (1975) *''Philip Marlowe, Private Eye'' (1983-1986) *''Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense'' (1984)

Producer

*''Without Reservations'' (1946) *''The Miracle of the Bells'' (1948)

Actor

*''The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film), The Thief of Bagdad'' (1924)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lasky, Jesse L. Jr. 1910 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American historians 20th-century American poets American autobiographers American expatriate academics American expatriates in France American expatriates in Spain American expatriates in the United Kingdom American male novelists American mass media scholars American male screenwriters American television writers Blair Academy alumni Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from pancreatic cancer Grand Central School of Art alumni Hun School of Princeton alumni Jewish American dramatists and playwrights Jewish American novelists Jewish American poets Jewish American screenwriters Writing teachers People from Hollywood, Los Angeles United States Army officers Writers from New York City Writers Guild of America board of directors American male poets American male television writers American male dramatists and playwrights Novelists from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from California 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews