American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (1923–1981)
Paddy Chayefsky
Circa 1972
Born
Sidney Aaron Chayefsky
(1923-01-29)January 29, 1923
New York City, U.S.
Died
August 1, 1981(1981-08-01) (aged 58)
New York City, U.S.
Resting place
Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York
Alma mater
City College of New York (1943)
Occupations
Playwright
novelist
screenwriter
Years active
1944–1980
Spouse
Susan Sackler Chayefsky
(m. 1949)
Children
1
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky/ˌtʃaɪˈ(j)ɛfski/ (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.[1]
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans.[2] Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."[3]
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well."[4] His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece,[5] and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."[6]
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.[7]
^"Paddy Chayefsky". Television Academy. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
^Rutherford, Paul (1990). When Television Was Young. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-1401603274.
^Quote re Chayefsky, google.com; accessed June 29, 2015.
^Thomson, David (2002). The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 155. ISBN 9780375411281.
^"101 Greatest Screenplays". Writers Guild of America, West. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
^Lowe, Rob (February 13, 2014). "Anchorman". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
^Karol, Michael (2005-12-15). THE COMIC DNA OF LUCILLE BALL: INTERPRETING THE ICON. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595823208.
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky /ˌtʃaɪˈ(j)ɛfski/ (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only...
of the same name by playwright and screenwriter PaddyChayefsky. The film was adapted from Chayefsky's 1978 novel and is his final screenplay. The novel...
"The Bachelor Party" is a 1953 television play by PaddyChayefsky which was adapted by Chayefsky for a 1957 film. The play premiered to critical acclaim...
and Midnight in Paris (2011)). PaddyChayefsky and Billy Wilder have also won three screenwriting Oscars: Chayefsky won two for Original Screenplay (The...
films, which included The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen; PaddyChayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) with Julie Andrews; Cash McCall...
Ransohoff's company, Filmways, had a deal with MGM to provide financing. PaddyChayefsky, who had just written The Americanization of Emily for Ransohoff, was...
Herbert Bock. It was written by PaddyChayefsky, who was awarded the 1972 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Chayefsky also narrates the film and...
for seven Oscars. Hiller collaborated on films with screenwriters PaddyChayefsky and Neil Simon. Among his other films were The Americanization of Emily...
of television (where Rod Serling, John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn, PaddyChayefsky and Sidney Lumet worked in their earlier years), both of which severely...
reviews of live television dramas, notably teleplays by JP Miller, PaddyChayefsky and Reginald Rose. At that time, it was sometimes used synonymously...
who had offered a bounty to have her killed. Academy Award winner PaddyChayefsky responded later during the ceremony while presenting an award, saying...
as the winner several years later. Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, PaddyChayefsky, Francis Ford Coppola, Horton Foote, William Goldman, Robert Benton...
nominations. 5 Awards Woody Allen 2 Awards Warren Beatty Mark Boal PaddyChayefsky Larry Gelbart Robert Towne Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay...
Release. "Television Comedy Writer Merrill Markoe to Receive WGAW'S 2020 PaddyChayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement". wga.org. Retrieved...
Bronx, in a building which was also the childhood home of Neil Simon, PaddyChayefsky, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. She began her career as a tap dancer...
black-and-white black comedy anti-war film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by PaddyChayefsky, and starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas, James Coburn...
next several generations of playwrights, including Arthur Miller, PaddyChayefsky, Neil Simon, and David Mamet. After the production of his play Clash...
It stars Fredric March and Kim Novak. The screenplay was adapted by PaddyChayefsky from his Broadway play of the same name. A 24-year-old divorcee, Betty...
producer of the Ziegfeld Follies Rhoda Blumberg (1917–2016), author PaddyChayefsky (1923–1981), screenwriter, winner of three Academy Awards Fred Friendly...
Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in PaddyChayefsky's Middle of the Night. In 1963, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress...
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