Bella Spewack

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Bella Cohen Spewack (born March 25, 1899 in Bucharest , Romania , † April 27, 1990 in Manhattan , New York ) was an American dramaturge , librettist and screenwriter of Romanian origin.

Life

Bella Spewack was born Bella Cohen in Bucharest in 1899. After her parents divorced, she moved to the United States with her mother . She then grew up on the East Side of Manhattan . She graduated from Washington Irving High School in 1917, but then had trouble finding work. She eventually got a job as a writer for Yorkville Home News . Because of her pacifist views, she soon switched to The New York Call , a socialist newspaper. Sam Spewack , who worked as a reporter for New York World , eventually became aware of her articles . They married in 1922 and worked as foreign correspondents in Moscow until 1926 . From 1928 they worked as a duo of writers for lively comedies on New York's Broadway . With the play Clear All Wires , which was based on their experience as a reporter in Moscow, they were able to record their first Broadway success.

From 1931 both were hired as screenwriters in Hollywood by various film studios such as Columbia Pictures , MGM and Warner Brothers . For the comedy My Favorite Wife ( My Favorite Wife ) they received in 1941 along with Leo McCarey an Oscar nomination in the category Best Original Story . In 1963, based on this script, a remake with Doris Day and James Garner was made under the title Eine zuviel im Bett ( Move Over, Darling ). However, the author couple celebrated their greatest successes with the libretti for the Cole Porter musicals Leave It to Me! (1938) and Kiss Me, Kate (1948). For Kiss Me, Kate , adapted for the big screen by George Sidney in 1953 , Bella and Sam Spewack each received two Tony Awards in 1949 .

Bella Spewack died in 1990 at the age of 91 in Manhattan, where she last lived.

Works (selection)

Stage plays

  • The War Song , 1928
  • Poppa , 1928
  • Clear All Wires , 1932
  • Spring Song , 1934
  • Boy Meets Girl , 1935
  • Miss Swan Expects , 1939
  • Woman Bites Dog , 1946
  • The Golden State , 1950
  • My 3 Angels , 1953

Musicals

Scripts

  • 1933: Should Ladies Behave
  • 1934: Love according to sheet music (The Cat and the Fiddle)
  • 1934: The Gay Bride
  • 1935: You don't kiss spies (rendezvous)
  • 1937: For you, Madame ... (Vogues of 1938)
  • 1938: Three Loves Has Nancy
  • 1938: The Little Star (Boy Meets Girl)
  • 1940: My Favorite Wife (My Favorite Wife)
  • 1945: Weekend at the Waldorf (Week-End at the Waldorf)

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dennis Hevesi: Bella Spewack, Author, 91, Dies; 'Kiss Me Kate' Is One of Her Hits . In: The New York Times , April 29, 1990.
personal data
SURNAME Spewack, Bella
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spewack, Bella Cohen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter of Romanian descent
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Bucharest , Romania
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1990
Place of death Manhattan , New York