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IMDbPro

Ernest Lehman(1915-2005)

  • Writer
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Ernest Lehman in Destination Hitchcock: The Making of 'North by Northwest' (2000)
One of the most critically and commercially successful screenwriters in Hollywood history, Lehman grew up on Long Island, graduated from NY's City College. One of his first jobs was as a copywriter for a Broadway publicist. This experience would later be reflected in his novel and screenplay, "Sweet Smell of Success." He also worked as a radio comedy writer, and as editor of a financial magazine. He freelanced short stories for the likes of Collier's magazine and one of these fiction piece 'The Comedian' led to his first job in Hollywood as a screenwriter for Paramount in the mid 1950s. Nick Roddick, in Dictionary of Literary Biography, praised Lehman as "a champion of the well-crafted, what-happens-next screenplay." Served as president of the Writers Guild of America from 1983-85.
BornDecember 8, 1915
DiedJuly 2, 2005(89)
BornDecember 8, 1915
DiedJuly 2, 2005(89)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 6 Oscars

Photos

Alfred Hitchcock with "North By Northwest" writer Ernest Lemman, c. 1959.
Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Nichols, George Segal, Sandy Dennis, and Ernest Lehman in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Known for

Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Eva Marie Saint, and Philip Ober in North by Northwest (1959)
North by Northwest
8.3
  • Writer
  • 1959
Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden in Sabrina (1954)
Sabrina
7.6
  • Writer
  • 1954
"West Side Story" (Saul Bass Poster) 1961
West Side Story
7.6
  • Writer
  • 1961
Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Nicholas Hammond, Kym Karath, Heather Menzies-Urich, and Debbie Turner in The Sound of Music (1965)
The Sound of Music
8.1
  • Writer
  • 1965

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer

  • Mashup (2021)
    Mashup
  • Harrison Ford in Sabrina (1995)
    Sabrina
  • The 62nd Annual Academy Awards (1990)
    The 62nd Annual Academy Awards
  • The 60th Annual Academy Awards (1988)
    The 60th Annual Academy Awards
  • The French Atlantic Affair (1979)
    The French Atlantic Affair
  • Black Sunday (1977)
    Black Sunday
  • Alfred Hitchcock, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
    Family Plot
  • Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
    Portnoy's Complaint
  • Sen bir meleksin (1969)
    Sen bir meleksin
  • Walter Matthau and Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly! (1969)
    Hello, Dolly!
  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
    Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Nicholas Hammond, Kym Karath, Heather Menzies-Urich, and Debbie Turner in The Sound of Music (1965)
    The Sound of Music
  • Paul Newman, Diane Baker, and Elke Sommer in The Prize (1963)
    The Prize
  • "West Side Story" (Saul Bass Poster) 1961
    West Side Story
  • Paul Newman, Leon Ames, Ina Balin, Myrna Loy, and Joanne Woodward in From the Terrace (1960)
    From the Terrace

Producer

  • Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
    Portnoy's Complaint
  • Walter Matthau and Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly! (1969)
    Hello, Dolly!
  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
    Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
    • (uncredited)

Director

  • Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
    Portnoy's Complaint

Personal details

Edit
    • Writers Guild of America (WGA): "Written By" article (June/July 2001)
    • December 8, 1915
    • New York City, New York, USA
    • July 2, 2005
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(heart attack following pneumonia)
    • June 8, 1997 - July 2, 2005 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Stage: His play, "Who Cares?," was performed at the Fortune Theatre in London, England, with Alec Clunes and Denholm Elliott in the cast.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 2 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Actually tried to climb Mount Rushmore after writing the monument into his North by Northwest (1959) plot. Halfway up, he realized he could die if he slipped and came down.
  • Quotes
    [on writing "North by Northwest" (1959) for Alfred Hitchcock] I wanted to write the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures.

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