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The Oscar and Emmy-nominated screenwriter — Walter Bernstein — died in his Manhattan, New York home at the age of 101. According to his wife, Gloria Loomis, Bernstein passed away due to pneumonia on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021.
He is highly known for being blacklisted during the 1950s Hollywood “Red Scare.” Bernstein and a few other writers were swept up in the anti-communist movement which was started by Senator Joseph McCarthy. The senator’s allegations against the United States Department caused Bernstein to write under pseudonyms for many years.
The writer received help from his associates and friends known as “fronts” in some of his publishing. Some of Bernstein’s work was published under their names.
In 1959, he reemerged as a screenwriter with the film “That Kind of Woman.” The film was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Sophia Loren. His career quickly began rebounding throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He is highlighted in many works, including “Fail Safe,” “The Molly Maguires,” and the “Yanks.
He was born on Aug. 20, 1919, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Louis Bernstein, was born in New York to Russian Jewish immigrants. The writer’s mother was also born in New York to Austrian Jewish parents. The screenwriter has married a total of four times in his life. He has five children with two of his ex-wives.
Before becoming a successful screenwriter he attended Dartmouth College. He then served in Worl War II as a journalist for the military newspaper Yank. Bernstein also wrote for The New Yorker.
The screenwriter was part of Marilyn Monroe’s film “Something’s Got to Give.” The film was never completed due to Monroe’s ill-fated death in August 1962.
He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1976. The film nominated was “The Front” which starred Woody Allen. Bernstein was nominated for an Emmy in 1997 for “Miss Evers’ Boys.” This is an HBO film about the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiments.
Many people began posting on social media after they learned about the legendary screenwriter’s death. May he rest in peace.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
CNN: Hollywood screenwriter Walter Bernstein dies at 101; by Anna Sturla
IMDb: Walter Bernstein
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