Ira Wallach

Ira Wallach (born January 22, 1913 in New York City , New York , † December 2, 1995 there ) was an American author and screenwriter .

Life

Wallach grew up in New Rochelle and served in the United States Army during World War II . As early as 1942 he contributed lyrics to a Broadway adaptation of The Barber of Seville . After the end of the war he published several books, including some literary parodies . In 1958 he wrote the comedy Drink to Me Only with Abram S. Ginnes , which brought it to a total of 77 performances on Broadway. His second and final Broadway comedy Absence of a Cello was performed 120 times, and Murray Hamilton received a Tony Award nomination for its performance . The German-language adaptation by Gina Kaus was filmed by German and Austrian television, with Dieter Borsche and Inge Langen playing the main roles in the German television film .

Wallach wrote the screenplay for the 1962 comedy film Sexy! starring James Garner and Kim Novak . The following year he adapted the book by George Goodman for the comedy Separate Beds with James Garner and Lee Remick . For the comedy The Naked Facts with Tony Curtis , Claudia Cardinale and Sharon Tate , he adapted his own book Muscle Beach , published in 1959, in 1967 . In the following year he wrote the script for the British / US co-production Das Millionending with Ustinov in the lead role together with Peter Ustinov . For this they were nominated for an Oscar in 1969 , but that year Mel Brooks won Spring for Hitler .

Wallach was married and the marriage resulted in a daughter. He died of pneumonia in a New York hospital.

1969: WGA Award nomination for Das Millionending