Jesse Louis Lasky Jr. (September 19, 1910 – April 11, 1988) was an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, 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,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and raised in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in England and in France. He attended Blair Academy, the Hun School of Princeton, Grand Central School of Art and the

University of Dijon A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, 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 was of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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 filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

. 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 organizatio ...

, 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 a ...

'' Magazine Award: in 1949 for '' Samson and Delilah'', and in 1956 for '' The Ten Commandments''. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Lasky served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 responsible for creating and managing Military communications, communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was ...

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, and was decorated by General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

. 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 beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

and the history of

at many American and British institutions, including the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to 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 unive ...

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

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

. 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 private members' club in London, founded in 1831 as a club for "actors and men of refinement to meet on equal terms". It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world. Its 1,500 members include many actors, writers, ...

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

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

Writer

Film

*'' Coming Out Party'' (1934) *'' Redhead'' (1934) *'' The White Parade'' (1934) *'' Music is Magic'' (1935) *''

Secret Agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

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

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

'' (1939) *'' Land of Liberty'' (1939) *'' North West Mounted Police'' (1940) *'' Back in the Saddle'' (1941) *'' Steel Against the Sky'' (1941) *'' The Singing Hill'' (1941) *''

Reap the Wild Wind ''Reap the Wild Wind'' is a 1942 American adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, and Paulette Goddard, with a supporting cast featuring Raymond Massey, Robert Preston (actor), Robert Pres ...

'' (1942) *'' The Omaha Trail'' (1942) *'' Unconquered'' (1947) *'' Samson and Delilah'' (1949) *'' The Sickle or the Cross'' (1949) *'' Women Without Names'' (1950) *'' Lorna Doone'' (1951) *'' Mask of the Avenger'' (1951) *'' Never Trust a Gambler'' (1951) *'' The Brigand'' (1951) *'' Venture of Faith'' (1951) *''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' (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) *'' The Ten Commandments'' (1955) *'' The Buccaneer'' (1958) *''

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

'' (1959) *'' The Wizard of Baghdad'' (1960) *'' 7 Women from Hell'' (1961) *'' Pirates of Tortuga'' (1961) *'' Land Raiders'' (1970) *'' Crime and Passion'' (1976) *'' The Bulldance'' (1989)

Television

*'' Waterfront'' (1954) *'' Studio 57'' (1955) *'' Naked City'' (1958) *''

Rescue 8 ''Rescue 8'' is a syndicated American action adventure drama series about Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) Rescue Squad 8. It premiered in 1958 and originally ran for two seasons with syndicated reruns continuing for almost a deca ...

'' (1958–1959) *'' Shannon'' (1961) *'' The New Breed'' (1961–1962) *'' The Saint'' (1965) *''Songs of the Wild West'' (1965, TV Movie) *''Chicago in the Roaring 20's'' (1965, TV Movie) *''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'' (1966) *'' The Protectors'' (1973) *'' Ben Hall'' (1975) *'' Space: 1999'' (1975) *'' Philip Marlowe, Private Eye'' (1983–1986) *'' Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense'' (1984)

Producer

*''

Without Reservations ''Without Reservations'' is a 1946 RKO Radio Pictures American comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Claudette Colbert, John Wayne and Don DeFore. The film was adapted by Andrew P. Solt, Andrew Solt from the novel ''Thanks, God! I'l ...

'' (1946) *''

The Miracle of the Bells ''The Miracle of the Bells'' is a 1948 American drama film directed by Irving Pichel, written by Quentin Reynolds and Ben Hecht, and produced by RKO. It stars Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra and Lee J. Cobb. The film is based on the 1 ...

'' (1948)

Actor

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

References

External links

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