Philip G. Epstein

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Philip G. Epstein (born August 22, 1909 in New York City , † February 7, 1952 in Los Angeles ) was an American screenwriter . He often worked with his identical twin brother Julius J. Epstein and mainly adapted books by other authors for the screen.

Life

Epstein grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan . In 1932 he graduated from Penn State University and initially worked as an actor in New York . In 1933 he moved to Hollywood with his brother Julius and in the first few years mainly wrote screenplays for crime films and B-movies such as China Passage and Fools for Scandal . The film Four Daughters clear up from 1939 was Epstein's first collaboration with his brother Julius. The final breakthrough came in 1940 with No Time for Comedy . In the following years the brothers wrote mostly together. Her best-known work is the screenplay of the 1942 classic Casablanca , based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick’s . Philip and Julius Epstein were awarded an Oscar for the best adapted screenplay , as the only brothers to date .

After finishing work on The Life of Mrs. Skeffington in 1944, the Epsteins took a break from the film business and wrote the plays Chicken Every Sunday and That's the Ticket . Their last collaboration was the script for Back then in Paris . Philip Epstein died of cancer on February 7, 1952 at the age of 42.

The Epstein brothers' trademark were their humorous and witty dialogues. Often they were hired by directors to revise and “loosen up” an existing script. Together they were involved in 28 projects. In 2006, the Writers Guild of America ranked the Casablanca screenplay first in the 101 Best Screenplays of All Time.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Epstein, Philip G.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Epstein, Philip
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH 7th February 1952
Place of death los Angeles