Wolf Mankowitz

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Wolf Mankowitz , born as Cyril Woolf (with two o) Mankowitz (born November 7, 1924 in London , United Kingdom , † May 20, 1998 in Bantry , County Cork , Ireland ) was a British writer and screenwriter .

Life

The son of a Russian-Jewish bookseller who immigrated to England grew up in very modest circumstances in London. Mankowitz began to study English literature at Downing College in Cambridge in 1943 and then initially worked as an antique dealer. He later switched to journalism and tried his hand at being a literary and theater critic. In addition, the Londoner wrote several short stories and soon made a name for himself as a writer of novels and plays ('Pickwick', 'Make Me an Offer', 'A Kid for Two Farthings', 'Expresso Bongo'). About the notorious female murderer Dr. He even wrote a musical for Crippen .

In 1954, Wolf Mankowitz began his film career as a screenwriter, initially adapting his own literary models. His first feature in the cinema, “Life is full of miracles”, which aimed to be a notable critical success in 1955, still strongly reflects Mankowitz's Russian-Jewish origins. Mankowitz 'contributions to the cinema include manuscripts on subjects from a wide variety of genres: horror (“ Beat 12 in London ”), science fiction (“ The day the earth caught fire ”), romantic comedy (“ The Millionaire ”), child-friendly Adventure (“ Black Beauty ”) and thrillers / agent parodies with satirical elements (“ Casino Royale ”, “ Mörder GmbH ”). Excursions to subjects with more ambitious content or design, such as the racial and time drama “ The 25th Hour ” or the servant-mistress melodrama “Message for Lady Franklin” remained the exceptions.

Wolf Mankowitz, who last lived in County Cork (Ireland) and has other domiciles in London, Israel and the Caribbean , who for a time was considered a security risk by British domestic intelligence due to his sympathy for the politically extreme left , as MI-5 published in 2010 -Files confirm, also worked for television. He also introduced the two producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli to each other at the beginning of the 1960s and was thus jointly responsible for the creation of the most successful film series in cinema history around the super agent James Bond . For the first Bond adventure, James Bond - 007, Dr. No Mankowitz wrote the treatment. Wolf Mankowitz, an expert on Wedgwood porcelain, owned an antique shop in the London borough of Mayfair . He was in the Golders Green Crematorium in London cremated , where his ashes is located.

cinemamovies

literature

  • Anthony J. Dunn: The Worlds of Wolf Mankowitz. Between Elite and Popular Cultures in Post-War Britain. Vallentine Mitchell publisher 2013
  • Motion Picture Almanac 1991, ed. By Barry Monush. P. 206
  • Ephraim Katz : The Film Encyclopedia, 4th Edition. Revised by Fred Klein & Ronald Dean Nolen, p. 896, New York 2001

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b To Russia with love: Wolf Mankowitz - the man who did everything
  2. ↑ a b To Russia with love: Wolf Mankowitz suspected of bonding with enemy
  3. ^ Book publication: Wedgwood, London 1966

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mankowitz, Wolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mankowitz, Cyril Woolf (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 1998
Place of death Bantry , County Cork , Ireland