George Oppenheimer

George Seligman Oppenheimer (February 7, 1900 in New York City – August 14, 1977) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and journalist.[1]

Career

In 1925, Oppenheimer cofounded The Viking Press, but becoming more interested in writing than publishing, he began a career as a screenwriter in Hollywood in 1933, hired to complete the screenplay of Samuel Goldwyn's comedy Roman Scandals (1933). For the rest of the decade he worked at MGM, often as a script doctor rewriting or polishing existing scripts.

Oppenheimer was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on The War Against Mrs. Hadley at the 15th Academy Awards of 1942.[2]

His contributions to theater criticism are recognized by the Newsday George Oppenheimer Award, which was awarded annually from 1979 to 2007 to the best New York debut production by an American playwright for a non-musical play.[3]

Oppenheimer graduated from Williams College and studied at Harvard University with George Pierce Baker. He joined Newsday in 1955 to write the weekly "On Stage" column, became a daily critic in 1963, and was named Sunday drama critic in 1972.[4]

Oppenheimer, who was a gay man, never married. Oppenheimer was the occasional sexual partner of the young Harry Hay; the pair met while cruising on Hollywood Boulevard.[5][6]

Filmography

Publications
  • The Passionate Playgoer. A Personal Scrapbook, 1958 (editor)
  • The View from the Sixties: Memories of a Spent Life, 1966

References
  1. "OPPENHEIMER, GEORGE". Rodgers and Hammerstein. Rodgers and Hammerstein. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  2. "Search Nominations". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  3. Simonson, Robert (October 7, 2004). "Will Eno's Flu Season Wins 2004 George Oppenheimer Award". Playbill. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  4. "OPPENHEIMER, GEORGE". Rodgers and Hammerstein. Rodgers and Hammerstein. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  5. Broken Face In The Mirror (Crooks and Fallen Stars That Look Very Much Like Us). Dorrance Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-4349-4723-9.
  6. Nicholas C. Edsall (September 29, 2003). Toward Stonewall: Homosexuality and Society in the Modern Western World. University of Virginia Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-8139-2396-3.


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