N. Richard Nash

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Nathan Richard Nash , actually Nathan Richard Nusbaum , pseudonym John Roc (born June 7, 1916 or June 8, 1916 in Philadelphia , † December 1, 2000 in Manhattan , New York City ) was an American writer and screenwriter . He was best known for Broadway shows, including The Rainmaker , which was made into a film by Joseph Anthony in 1956 .

Life

Nash was born Nathan Richard Nusbaum, the youngest of six children. His father, a journalist of German origin , died when he was 16. His mother ran a grocery store. As a teenager, Nusbaum earned money as a boxer. He later studied English and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and stayed there after completing his studies as a lecturer in theater studies and director of a student theater . He also wrote screenplays and popular dramas, as well as two philosophical writings. In 1935 he married the actress Helena Taylor, with whom he had a son. He took the stage name Nash in the late 1930s when his work as a screenwriter in Hollywood attracted interest and the family moved to Los Angeles .

As a result, Nash wrote countless scripts for films, Broadway shows and television, which flourished during this period. He also worked as a copywriter . In the early 1940s he separated from his wife and moved to New York, where he remarried twice within a year. He kept up his activity as a screenwriter. Among other things, he worked with Samuel Goldwyn at Metro Goldwyn Mayer . In the 1950s he was also successful as a playwright. His best known piece, The Rainmaker (first performed 1954), has been translated into over 40 languages ​​and adapted as the Broadway musical 110 in the Shade .

At the beginning of the 1960s, his success as an author initially waned. He secured a second mainstay by founding a mail order business, which he soon gave up. He also published prose later in life, including two novels, East Wind, Rain, and The Last Magic , which made it onto the New York Times bestseller list . In the 1970s he published a drama and a novel under the pseudonym John Roc, believing that if the plays were published under his real name, they would not be taken seriously. Nash's identity with John Roc was kept top secret by him and was only revealed after his death.

He continued his writing activity throughout his life.

reception

Nash has been compared in part to William Inge , but never achieved the same literary reputation. Critics perceived him as a technically solid writing author who served a wider audience. His work as a screenwriter has won several awards.

Bibliography (selection)

Dramas

  • The Second Best Bed (1946)
  • See the Jaguar (1952)
  • The Rainmaker (1954)
  • Fire! (as John Roc)

Novels

  • East Wind, Rain (1977), German East Wind and Rain
  • The Last Magic
  • Winter Blood (as John Roc)
  • The Wildwood (2000)

Filmography (selection)

script
  • 1946: Nora Prentiss
  • 1946: Everything goes better with singing ( Welcome Stranger )
  • 1948: Sainted Sisters
  • 1950: The year of the lie ( The vicious Years )
  • 1952: Mara Maru
  • 1954: The Joker (TV)
  • 1955: Fluggeschwader LB 17 intervenes ( Top of the World )
  • 1959: Porgy and Bess
  • 1976: Secret of the Dragonfly ( One Summer Love )
  • 1984: The Parade ( The Parade )
  • 1985: Between the Darkness and the Dawn (TV)
Literary template

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Reclams Schauspielführer (Eds. Siegfried Kienzle and Otto CA zur Nedden ), Stuttgart (1993), p. 783.
  2. ↑ a b c Biography , accessed August 30, 2009
  3. ↑ N. Richard Nash in the All Movie Guide (English)
  4. ^ Obituary by Tom Vallance in The Independent , viewed August 30, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Nash, N. Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nash, Nathan Richard (full name); Nusbaum, Nathan Richard (real name); Roc, John (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American novelist and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1916 or June 8, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 2000
Place of death Manhattan , New York City