Millen Brand

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Millen Brand (born January 19, 1906 in Jersey City , † March 19, 1980 in New York City ) was an American author of novels, poems and screenplays.

Life

Millen Brand grew up in a working class family. He completed a journalism degree at Columbia University , which he graduated with a BA in 1929 . In the same year he began working as a copywriter for the New York Telephone Company, which he carried out until 1937. From 1940 to 1950 Brand taught as a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire and the Writing Center at New York University .

In 1937 Brand published his first and most successful novel, The Outward Room . It is about a young woman who, after a nervous breakdown and unsuccessful medical treatment in New York, finds herself and her great love again. The Broadway play based on the book The World We Make by Sidney Kingsley was shown in 1939/40 at the Guild Theater (now August Wilson Theater).

Brand published other novels, books for young people and poems, some as contributions to anthologies and literary magazines such as The New Yorker . Brand, who briefly worked as a psychiatric assistant himself, addressed the treatment of the mentally ill several times. In 1948 he wrote the script for the feature film Die Schlangengrube together with Frank Partos . They adapted the autobiographical novel of the same name by Mary Jane Ward , which is about her experiences in psychiatry. For this work, they were nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Adapted Screenplay in 1949 . They also won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama and Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene and the Robert Meltzer Award for the script .

Together with Adrian Scott and Edward Dmytryk , Brand planned the film adaptation of his 1947 novel Albert Sears . The plans failed, however, as the two were among the Hollywood Ten who refused to testify to the Un-American Activities Committee and were sentenced to prison terms. In 1953 Brand was also invited to a hearing on the basis of these contacts, which he refused with reference to the 5th Amendment .

From 1953 to 1974 Brand worked as an editor at the New York publisher Crown Publishers. In 1980 he died in New York at the age of 74 after a brief illness.

Brand was married twice, first in 1932 he married the author Pauline Leader. The marriage had three children. In 1943 he married Helen Mendelsohn, with whom he had a daughter. This marriage was also later divorced.

Works (selection)

  • The outward room. Simon and Schuster, New York 1937.
    • Walk into the light. Transferred from the American by Helmut Giese. Schünemann, Bremen 1939.
  • The heroes. Simon and Schuster, New York 1939.
  • Albert Sears. Simon and Schuster, New York 1947.
  • Some love, some hunger. Crown Publishers, New York 1955.
  • Savage sleep. Crown Publishers, New York 1968.
    • Wild sleep. Transferred from the American by Manja Wilkens. Swiss publishing house, Zurich 1971.
  • with John Hamberger: This little pig named Curly. Crown Publishers, New York 1968.
  • with George A. Tice: Fields of peace: a Pennsylvania German album. Doubleday, Garden City, NY 1970.
  • Local lives. CN Potter, New York 1975, ISBN 0-517-51998-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Millen Brand New York Review Books. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  2. ^ A b Biography of Millen Brand In: Millen Brand Collection, Bowling Green State University - Browne Popular Culture Library, 1969. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  3. ^ The World We Make In: IBDB . Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  4. ^ Writers Guild Awards Winners: 1995-1949 awards.wga.org. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  5. ↑ The Robert Meltzer Award awards.wga.org. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Brand, Millen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer of novels, poems, and screenplays
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Jersey City
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1980
Place of death New York City