Frank Tarloff (February 4, 1916 – June 25, 1999) was a

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

American screenwriter who won an

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...

for '' Father Goose''. A child of Polish immigrant parents, Tarloff grew up in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, where he attended Abraham Lincoln High School and

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

. He began writing for stage and radio in the 1940s, and his first major film credit was ''

Behave Yourself! ''Behave Yourself!'' is a 1951 American comedy directed and cowritten by George Beck, starring Farley Granger and Shelley Winters and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Plot Mild mannered young CPA Bill Denny forgets about his and his wife Kate' ...

''. He was called to testify before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...

in 1953, was categorized as a

hostile witness A hostile witness, also known as an adverse witness or an unfavorable witness, is a witness at trial whose testimony on direct examination is either openly antagonistic or appears to be contrary to the legal position of the party who called ...

, and was blacklisted. He spent the next 12 years living with family in England and writing under pseudonyms such as "David Adler" for shows such as ''

I Married Joan ''I Married Joan'' is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (Jim Backus). Synopsis The show, whose syndicated ope ...

'', ''

The Real McCoys ''The Real McCoys'' is an American situation comedy starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Compan ...

'', ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Prod ...

'', and ''

Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

''. He received the Academy Award for ''Father Goose'' together with S. H. Barnett and Peter Stone and was also nominated for 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 ...

Award for best comedy writing. He received a WGA Award nomination for best comedy writing for ''

A Guide for the Married Man ''A Guide for the Married Man'' is a 1967 American bedroom-farce comedy film starring Walter Matthau, Robert Morse, and Inger Stevens. It was directed by Gene Kelly. It features many cameos, including Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Terry-Thomas ...

'', which he wrote on his own. He is also known for co-writing ''

The Secret War of Harry Frigg ''The Secret War of Harry Frigg'' is a 1968 American comedy war film set in World War II. It was directed by Jack Smight and stars Paul Newman. Plot Several brigadier generals (American, British, and French) are unexpectedly taken prisoner by th ...

''. He returned to television at the end of his career, writing for ''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history, ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarloff, Frank 1916 births 1999 deaths Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni American people of Polish descent American male screenwriters American television writers Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Brooklyn College alumni Deaths from cancer in California Hollywood blacklist American male television writers Writers from Brooklyn Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters