Ted Allan
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Alan Herman (January 26, 1916 – June 29, 1995), known professionally as Ted Allan, was a Canadian screenwriter, author, and poet, several of whose books were made into motion pictures. In 1975, he received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Writing (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 the ...
and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for the film ''
Lies My Father Told Me ''Lies My Father Told Me'' is a 1975 Canadian drama film made in Montreal, Quebec. It was directed by Ján Kadár and stars Jeffrey Lynas as an orthodox Jewish boy growing up in 1920s Montreal. The film received the Golden Globe Award for Best F ...
''.


Biography

Ted Allan was born in Montreal as Alan Herman. In 1934 he met and became friends with
Norman Bethune Henry Norman Bethune (; March 4, 1890 – November 12, 1939; zh, t=亨利·諾爾曼·白求恩, p=Hēnglì Nuò'ěrmàn Báiqiú'ēn) was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of socialized medicine, and member of the Communist Party ...
. In February 1937 Allan joined
Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion ( es, Batallón Abraham Lincoln) was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade, a mixed brigade of the International Brigades also known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. It was organized by the C ...
of the International Brigades to fight against fascism in
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
. At the direction of the Brigade, Ted worked as a reporter — he broadcast to America from Madrid — and worked again with Bethune. In 1939 he published his first novel, ''This Time a Better Earth'', drawing on his experiences in the War. In 1952, Allan and Sydney Gordon published Bethune's biography, ''The Scalpel, The Sword''. Allan battled for nearly 40 years to make a movie about the Canadian surgeon who became a larger-than-life hero of the Chinese revolution. The film, '' Bethune: The Making of a Hero'', for which Allan wrote the screenplay, was the first official Chinese co-production, shooting in China, Montreal and Spain was released in 1990. It starred
Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...
and Helen Mirren. Allan co-wrote the script for
John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...
's celebrated movie '' Love Streams'' (released in 1984), which won the
Golden Bear Award Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
at
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
. The film was based on one of Allan's plays, ''I've Seen You Cut Lemons'', which was directed by Sean Connery at the
Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre on Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. Since 1989 the theatre has hosted the long running play ''The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playw ...
in London in 1969. Allan won the Stephen Leacock Award in 1985 for his novel ''Love Is a Long Shot''. He died of respiratory failure on June 29, 1995 at the age of 79. He is the subject of the 2002
National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...
documentary ''Ted Allan: Minstrel Boy of the Twentieth Century''.


Work

Ted Allan's credits include:


Plays

* ''The Ghost Writers'' (Toronto 1952) retitled ''The Money Makers'' (London 1955) * ''Double Image'' with Roger MacDougal (London 1955 ) reworked, with Gabriel Arout, as ''Gog et Magog'' (Paris 1959/62) * ''Double Image'' (1957) * ''Legend of Pepito'' (London 1955) * ''The Secret of the World'' (London 1958) * ''I've Seen You Cut Lemons'' (London 1969) * ''My Sister's Keeper'' (1974) * ''Love Streams'' (Los Angeles 1981) * ''The Third Day Comes'' (Los Angeles 1981) * ''Willie the Squowse'' (Toronto 1987/8) * ''Chu Chem'' (New York 1988)


Films

* ''
Lies My Father Told Me ''Lies My Father Told Me'' is a 1975 Canadian drama film made in Montreal, Quebec. It was directed by Ján Kadár and stars Jeffrey Lynas as an orthodox Jewish boy growing up in 1920s Montreal. The film received the Golden Globe Award for Best F ...
'' (1975) * '' Love Streams'' (1984) * '' Bethune: The Making of a Hero'' (1990)


Books

* ''This Time a Better Earth'' (1939) * ''The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of Doctor Norman Bethune'' (1952) with Sydney Gorden * ''Willie the Squowse'' (1977) * ''Love is a Long Shot'' (1984) * ''Don't You Know Anybody Else'' (1885) * ''Dr. Ah Chu & Jonah's Egg'' (Robert Davies Publishing) He also published short stories in '' Harper's'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', and other magazines.


Notes


References


External links


Ted Allan, a biography



Ted Allan fonds (R2931)
at Library and Archives Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Ted 1916 births 1995 deaths Canadian biographers Male biographers Jewish Canadian writers Writers from Montreal Stephen Leacock Award winners 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian children's writers Canadian male short story writers 20th-century biographers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male screenwriters 20th-century Canadian short story writers Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of the Spanish Civil War Canadian socialists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian anti-fascists Jewish anti-fascists Canadian expatriates in Spain