Abby Mann | |
---|---|
Born | Abraham Goodman December 1, 1927 |
Died | March 25, 2008 | (aged 80)
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Screenwriter and film producer |
Spouse | Myra Maislin |
Children | Abigail Mann Adrienne Cohen Isom (stepdaughter) Aaron Cohen (stepson) |
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.[1]
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [2][3]
He was best known for his work on controversial subjects and social drama. His best known work is the screenplay for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), which was initially a television drama that aired in 1959. Stanley Kramer directed the film adaptation, for which Mann received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In his acceptance speech, he said:
"A writer worth his salt at all has an obligation not only to entertain but to comment on the world in which he lives."[4]
Mann later adapted the play for a 2001 production on Broadway, which featured Maximilian Schell from the 1961 film in a different role.[5] In the introduction to the printed script, Mann credited a conversation with Abraham Pomerantz, U.S. Chief Deputy Counsel, for giving him the initial interest in Nuremberg.[6] Mann and Kramer also collaborated on the films Ship of Fools and A Child Is Waiting.
While working for television, he created the series Kojak, starring Telly Savalas. Mann was executive producer, but was also credited as a writer on many episodes.[7] His other writing credits include the screenplays for the television films The Marcus-Nelson Murders, The Atlanta Child Murders,[8] Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story,[9] and Indictment: The McMartin Trial,[10] as well as the film War and Love.[11] He also directed the 1978 NBC TV miniseries King.[12] In 1974, he signed a deal with Columbia Pictures Television to develop long-form television projects.[13]
Mann was married to Myra Maislin. His wife had two children from a previous marriage, Adrienne Cohen Isom and Aaron Cohen,[3] a former Israeli Duvdevan Unit Special Forces operative.[14]
Mann died of heart failure in Beverly Hills, California on March 25, 2008, aged 80.[15][16] He died one day after Richard Widmark, one of the stars of Judgment at Nuremberg. Mann is interred in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.[17]