About

Known credits:
43
Birthday:
1906-12-31
Place of birth:
New York City, New York, USA
Website:
N/A

Charles Lederer

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Lederer (December 31, 1906 – March 5, 1976) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was born into a prominent theatrical family in New York, and after his parents divorced, was raised in California by his aunt, Marion Davies, mistress to newspaper publisher William Randolf Hearst. A child prodigy, he entered college at age 13, but dropped out after a few years to work as a journalist with Hearst's newspapers.

Lederer is recognized for his comic and acerbic adaptations and collaborative screenplays of the 1940s and early 1950s. His screenplays frequently delved into the corrosive influences of wealth and power. His comedy writing was considered among the best of the period, and he, along with writer friends Ben Hecht and Herman Mankiewicz, became major contributors to the film genre known as "screwball comedy".

Among his notable screenplays which he wrote or co-wrote, were The Front Page (1931), the critically acclaimed His Girl Friday (1940), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), Ocean's 11 (1960), and Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).

With Ben Hecht, he co-wrote the original Kiss of Death which was to feature the actor Richard Widmark's chilling debut as the psychopathic killer with a giggle. In addition, he wrote and directed the 1959 film Never Steal Anything Small, an adaptation of a play by Maxwell Anderson and Rouben Mamoulian, starring James Cagney. The Spirit of St. Louis was Lederer's last significant film work. The films that followed that were primarily vehicles for established stars.

In 1954, he won three Tony Awards for the Broadway Musical Kismet, as Best Producer (Musical), as Best Author (Musical) with Luther Davis, and as co-author of the book which, with several collaborators, contributed to the Best Musical win.

Known for

Directing
1959 Never Steal Anything Small Directing Director 59
Average
1951 On the Loose Directing Director 59
Average
1942 Fingers at the Window Directing Director 58
Average

Writing
2001 Ocean's Eleven Writing Original Film Writer 73
Good
1995 Kiss of Death Writing Original Film Writer 57
Average
1967 Kismet Writing Book 58
Average
1964 A Global Affair Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1962 Mutiny on the Bounty Writing Screenplay 63
Fair
1962 Follow That Dream Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1960 Ocean's Eleven Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1960 Can-Can Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1959 It Started with a Kiss Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1959 Never Steal Anything Small Writing Writer 59
Average
1958 The Fiend Who Walked The West Writing Adaptation 58
Average
1957 Tip on a Dead Jockey Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1957 The Spirit of St. Louis Writing Adaptation 60
Fair
1956 Gaby Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1955 Kismet Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1953 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Writing Screenplay 68
Fair
1952 Monkey Business Writing Screenplay 61
Fair
1952 Fearless Fagan Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1951 The Thing from Another World Writing Screenplay 63
Fair
1950 Wabash Avenue Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1949 Red, Hot and Blue Writing Story 58
Average
1949 I Was a Male War Bride Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1947 Her Husband's Affairs Writing Writer 59
Average
1947 Ride the Pink Horse Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1947 Kiss of Death Writing Screenplay 61
Fair
1943 Slightly Dangerous Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1943 The Youngest Profession Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1941 Love Crazy Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1940 Comrade X Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1940 I Love You Again Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1940 His Girl Friday Writing Screenplay 68
Fair
1939 Broadway Serenade Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1939 Within the Law Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1937 Double or Nothing Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1937 Mountain Music Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1932 Cock of the Air Writing Dialogue N/A
N/A
1932 Cock of the Air Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Crew
1935 Baby Face Harrington Crew Additional Dialogue 58
Average
1933 Topaze Crew Sequence Supervisor 59
Average
1931 The Front Page Crew Additional Dialogue 59
Average