Herman J. Mankiewicz

Screenwriter, Film writer

1897 – 1953

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Who was Herman J. Mankiewicz?

Herman Jacob Mankiewicz; November 7, 1897 – March 5, 1953 was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane. Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Herman Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York". Both Mankiewicz and Welles received Academy Awards for their screenplay.

He was often asked to fix the screenplays of other writers, with much of his work uncredited. What distinguished his writing from that of other writers were occasional flashes of the "Mankiewicz humor" and satire that became valued in the films of the 1930s. That style of writing included a slick, satirical, and witty humor, which depended almost totally on dialogue to carry the film. It was a style that would become associated with the "typical American film" of that period.

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Born
Nov 7, 1897
New York City
Also known as
  • Herman Mankiewicz
  • Herman Jacob Mankiewicz
  • Manky
  • Mank
Parents
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Ethnicity
  • Jewish people
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Columbia University
Lived in
  • New York City
Died
Mar 5, 1953
Hollywood

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Herman J. Mankiewicz." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/herman_j_mankiewicz>.

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