Jack Lait

Jack Lait (March 13, 1883 – April 1, 1954) was an American journalist, author and playwright. During a 50-year career he wrote prolifically and became renowned as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known as co-author, with Lee Mortimer, of the controversial "Confidential" books, written in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Early years Jacquin Leonard Lait was born March 13, 1883, in New York City. His family then moved to Chicago, where Lait grew up. He went to grammar school but skipped high school and took a number of jobs before entering the Lewis Institute, where he graduated.

Journalistic career Lait's first reporting job was for the Chicago American. In 1934 he became managing editor of the New York American and immediately fired his son George to avoid accusations of nepotism.

Lait and Mortimer's books inspired the films New York Confidential (1955) and Chicago Confidential (1957) and the television series New York Confidential.

Other writing Plays In the summer of 1913 he was persuaded by Wilson Mizner and Paul Armstrong to write his first play, Help Wanted, which was a big success.

Works

Plays Help Wanted, February 11, 1914 - May 1914 One of Us, September 9, 1918 - Sep 1918 Spice of 1922, [Original, Musical, Revue] July 6, 1922 - Sep 9, 1922 Rufus LeMaire's Affairs, [Original, Musical, Revue] March 28, 1927 - May 1927 The Hook-up, May 7, 1935 - May 1935

Books Beef, Iron, and Wine (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1916) The Broadway Melody (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1929); novelization of the Edmund Goulding film scenario The Broadway Melody The Big House (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930); novelization of the Frances Marion and George Hill film scenario The Big House Gangster Girl (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930) Put on the Spot (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930); basis of 1931 film Bad Company The Beast of the City (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1932); novelization of the screenplay by W.R. Burnett Our Will Rogers (New York: Greenberg, 1935) New York Confidential, The Lowdown on Its Bright Life (with co-author Lee Mortimer) (Chicago: Ziff-Davis, 1948) Washington Confidential (with Mortimer) (New York: Crown Publishers, 1951) Chicago Confidential (with Mortimer) (New York: Crown Publishers, 1950) U.S.A. Confidential (with Mortimer) (New York: Crown Publishers, 1952)