Ernest Lehman

Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. Their Jewish family was based on Long Island. Lehman attended the College of the City of New York (The City College of New York), from which he earned a bachelor's degree.

Career After graduation, Lehman started working as a freelance writer. Lehman felt that freelancing was a "very nervous way to make a living", so he began writing copy for a publicity firm that focused on plays and celebrities. He drew from this experience for his novelette, Sweet Smell of Success (1957), on which Clifford Odets based the filmscript for the production team of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster.

Lehman also published many short stories and novellas in magazines such as Colliers, Redbook and Cosmopolitan. These attracted the attention of Hollywood managers, and in the mid-1950s Paramount Pictures signed him to a writing contract. His first film, Executive Suite (1954), was a success.

Lehman was asked to collaborate on the romantic comedy Sabrina (1954), which was released the same year and also became a hit. Some of his most notable works are the screenplay adaptations of the musical West Side Story (1961) He was an active member of the Bel Air Repeater Association.

Death Lehman died on July 2, 2005, at UCLA Medical Center after an apparent heart attack. He was buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Writing credits

Filmography

The Inside Story (story) (1948) Executive Suite (1954) Sabrina (with Billy Wilder & Samuel Taylor) (1954) Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) The King and I (1956) Sweet Smell of Success (with Clifford Odets) (1957) also story North by Northwest (1959) From the Terrace (1960) West Side Story (1961) The Prize (1963) The Sound of Music (1965) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Hello, Dolly! (1969) Portnoy's Complaint (1972) also director Family Plot (1976) Black Sunday (with Kenneth Ross and Ivan Moffat) (1977)

Television The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949) writer, one episode The Ford Television Theatre (1954) writer, one episode Lux Video Theatre (1955) writer, one episode Playhouse 90 (1957) writer, one episode (1957) based on Sweet Smell of Success The French Atlantic Affair (1979) based on his novel