Bernstein, Walter,
1919-2021, American screenwriter, b. Brooklyn, NY, Dartmouth
College (BA, 1940). After attending high school, Bernstein enrolled at
Dartmouth College, where he became the film critic for its student
newspaper. After graduation, he was drafted in early 1941 and sent to Fort
Benning, Georgia, where he wrote and staged his first show with his fellow
soldiers. Hired to write for Hollywood in the early ‘50s, he was
soon blacklisted because of his earlier association with leftwing causes.
He was able to resume credited screenwriting in the early ‘60s,
scoring with the influential films Paris Blues (1961) and
Fail Safe (1964). Using his experiences during the
blacklist, he authored the popular film The Front (1976),
which earned Bernstein his only Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. His
1997 TV movie script, Miss Evers’ Boys, was
nominated for an Emmy.
See his autobiography (1996).
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