Jay Presson Allen

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Jay Presson Allen , born as Jacqueline Presson (born March 3, 1922 in San Angelo , † May 1, 2006 in New York City ) was an American screenwriter, playwright and film producer . Her breakthrough as a writer came in 1964 with Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Marnie . Her greatest successes include the Oscar- nominated screenplays for Cabaret and Prince of the City . She established herself as a Hollywood producer in the 1980s, directing the Broadway plays Tru and The Big Love .

Live and act

Training, starting a family and starting a career

Jacqueline Presson was born as the daughter of department store manager Albert Jeffrey Presson and his wife Wilhilmina, b. Miller was born in San Angelo, Texas . She attended Miss Hockaday's School for Young Ladies in Dallas , but according to her own assessment, received no significant education. In the early 1940s she went to New York City to become an actress. However, she soon came to the conclusion that this profession was not her job. Instead, she married and lived in the Californian city of Claremont during World War II . She later separated from her husband.

After the war, Presson played two small film roles that would remain her only. Since she did not appreciate her actual first name, she appeared instead as Jay Presson, where Jay stands for the fully formulated first letter of Jacqueline . In 1948 she published the novel Spring Riot with the New York publisher Rinehart. She then wrote her first stage script, which she sent to the theater producer Robert Whitehead (1916–2002). Its editor (her future second husband) initially rejected it, but Presson sent it again and Whitehead, who read it himself this time, accepted it. However, it didn't come on stage. In the 1950s, Presson wrote scripts for various television series. In 1955 she married the producer Lewis M. Allen (1922-2003), and changed her name to Jay Presson Allen. They had a daughter.

Career as a screenwriter and playwright

Whitehead encouraged Presson to write more theater scripts. First she wrote The First Wife , which has autobiographical traits and deals with the problem of getting his first play on Broadway. Although it did not appear, it was adapted by screenwriter Edward Anhalt and served as a template for the film Oh darling ... not here! (1963). This was Presson's first contact with Hollywood. Shortly afterwards she received an offer from Alfred Hitchcock to work on his film Marnie . Previously, two scriptwriters had already left production. The film was initially a failure with both critics and audiences. For Presson, who appeared as the only female writer in the credits , Marnie represented the breakthrough as a writer. She rose to the few successful female screenwriters of the time.

With Marnie , Presson wrote a total of six scripts for films with a central female character. The second, Miss Jean Brodie's Prime Years, hit theaters in 1969. A few years earlier Presson had the novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark rewritten for a stage adaptation, which celebrated in 1966 in London Premiere and in 1968 at the Broadway run. These adaptations have met with critical and financial success. Film critic Nick Roddick counts it among Presson's best work in the Dictionary of Literary Biography . The film adaptation is characterized - as is often the case with Presson's works - by a streamlining, simplification and dramatization, which makes the topics dealt with in the novel understandable to a wider audience.

Then Presson wrote the screenplay for Bob Fosses film Cabaret (1972), the content parallels to The Best Years of Miss Jean Brodie . Although she was replaced by Hugh Wheeler during filming , she was identified as an author in accordance with the rules established by the Writers Guild in the credits, as the basic concept of the book was already established at this point. It earned Presson nominations for an Oscar, Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award, among others .

In the same year as Cabaret , George Cukor's comedy Traveling with My Aunt appeared , in whose script Presson was also involved. In this case, it was initially Wheeler who adapted the novel by Graham Greene . Since Katharine Hepburn , who was originally supposed to play the leading actress Augusta, didn't like the result, Presson was called in and rewrote the script. In this case, both she and Wheeler were named in the credits. Further work for film and television followed.

For the 1975 feature film Funny Lady , the sequel to the successful musical adaptation Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand , Presson wrote the screenplay together with Arnold Schulman (* 1925), from which the original story, which serves as a template, also comes. The film was a failure with both critics and the box office, but it still earned Presson recognition. Her ironic humor had a positive effect on the dialogues.

After Funny Lady , Presson stopped working for Hollywood for four years. Instead, she wrote the novel Just Tell Me What You Want in 1975 and participated in the creation of the television series An American Family , for which she subsequently worked as a story consultant.

Hollywood producer career

In September 1979, Presson signed a contract with Warner Bros. to produce six films. Although she had previously stated that she no longer wanted to write scripts, she also took on this task for four of the films. In 1980 she appeared as a producer for the first time with Tell me what you want . This film adaptation of her novel met with mixed reviews. Her second production, It's My Turn, was released in the same year , a dramatic comedy about a woman with romantic and professional problems.

In 1981 Presson was executive producer and screenwriter on the film Prince of the City, based on a Robert Daley novel . The very detailed, almost three-hour film was not financially successful, but was very well received by the critics, some of whom rated it as the best work of the 1981 film year . Together with Sidney Lumet , Presson was again awarded an Oscar nomination for the script adaptation. The police and corruption drama Prince of the City occupies a certain exceptional position in Presson's work, which is otherwise mostly characterized by dazzling, central female roles and is about love relationships, family or even children.

In the following production, Presson worked again with Lumet, who took over the direction. In 1982 her film Das Mörderspiel ( Deathtrap ), an adaptation of the mystery play of the same name by Ira Levin, was released . It received mixed reviews and made a slight financial gain.

Broadway director career and old age

In the mid-1980s, Presson largely withdrew from the official film business and switched to last-minute changes to scripts without appearing in the credits .

In the early 1990s, Presson directed two Broadway productions, with her husband taking on the role of producer. In the play Tru , she portrayed the author Truman Capote , who was portrayed by Robert Morse . She wrote The Big Love together with her daughter Brooke Allen. It was the adaptation of the novel of the same name, which thematizes a relationship between the underage Beverly Aadland and Errol Flynn . The play was performed at the Plymouth Theater in 1991, with Tracey Ullman in the sole role.

Jay Presson Allen died of a stroke in her Manhattan apartment at the age of 84 .

Awards (selection)

Plays (Broadway)

  • 1968: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Helen Hayes Theater (script)
  • 1968–1970: Forty Carats, Morosco Theater (script)
  • 1982: A Little Family Business, Martin Beck Theater (script)
  • 1989–1990: Tru, Booth Theater (direction and script)
  • 1991: The Big Love, Plymouth Theater (director and script)

Filmography

  • 1945: An Angel Comes to Brooklyn
  • 1946: Gay Blades
  • 1951: Goodyear Television Playhouse (TV series)
  • 1954: Danger (TV series, 2 episodes)
  • 1954: Brink of Disaster (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1954: Armstrong Circle Theater (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1954: The Philco Television Playhouse (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1955: Star Tonight "(TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1956: Matinee Theater (TV series 1 episode)
  • 1963: Oh darling ... not here! ( Wives and Lovers )
  • 1964: Marnie
  • 1969: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ( The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie )
  • 1972: Cabaret
  • 1972: Travels with My Aunt ( Travels with My Aunt )
  • 1973: forty carats ( 40 carats )
  • 1973: The Borrowers
  • 1976: Funny Lady
  • 1976: A Star Is Born
  • 1978: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1980: Tell me what you want ( Just Tell Me What You Want )
  • 1980: It's My Turn - I call it love ( It's My Turn )
  • 1976–1980: An American Family ( Family , TV series, 86 episodes)
  • 1981: Prince of the City - Die Herren der Stadt ( Prince of the City )
  • 1982: The Murderer's Game ( Deathtrap )
  • 1988: Hothouse (TV series, 5 episodes)
  • 1992: American Playhouse (TV series, 1 episode)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ronald Bergan: Jay Presson Allen. In: The Guardian May 5, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b Nick Roddick: Jay Presson Allen In: American screenwriters , 1984, p. 15.
  3. ↑ a b c d Pat McGilligan: Jay Presson Allen: Writer by Default. In: Backstory 3. Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1960s. University of California Press, Berkeley 1997. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ Jay Presson Allen ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. filmdirectorssite.com, accessed January 27, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.filmdirectorssite.com
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Nick Roddick: Jay Presson Allen In: American screenwriters , 1984, p. 16.
  6. ↑ Nick Roddick: Jay Presson Allen In: American screenwriters , 1984, p. 17.
  7. ↑ The Big Love In: Internet Broadway Database , accessed March 27, 2013.
  8. ↑ Jay Presson Allen, 84; Writer Adapted Novels for Movies and the Theater. In: Los Angeles Times May 6, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  9. ↑ Screenplay in 1973 awards.bafta.org, accessed January 28, 2013.
  10. ^ Award Winners ( memento of October 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) www.wga.org, accessed on January 28, 2013.
  11. ^ The 54th Academy Awards (1982) Nominees and Winners oscars.org, accessed March 25, 2013.
  12. ↑ Past Recipients, 1992, Carierr Tributes ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. gotham.ifp.org, accessed March 25, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gotham.ifp.org
personal data
SURNAME Allen, Jay Presson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Presson, Jay; Presson, Jacqueline (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter, playwright, and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH San Angelo
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 2006
Place of death New York City