1. Charles Davies Lederer was an American screenwriter and film director.
39 Facts About Charles Lederer
1. 2.
Charles Lederer was born into a theatrical family in New York, and after his parents divorced, was raised in California by his aunt, Marion Davies, actress and mistress to newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.
3.
Charles Lederer's comedy writing was considered among the best of the period, and he, along with writer friends Ben Hecht and Herman Mankiewicz, became major contributors to the film genre known as "screwball comedy".
4.
Charles Davies Lederer was born in New York City to two prominent figures in the American theater, Broadway producer George Lederer and singer Reine Davies.
5.
Charles Lederer grew up in Hollywood, spending much time at San Simeon, the "enchanted castle on the hill", where his aunt reigned as publisher William Randolph Hearst's mistress.
6.
Charles Lederer was a child prodigy and was admitted to UC Berkeley at the age of 13, but dropped out a few years later to work as a journalist for Hearst's newspapers.
7.
Virtually none of the film community had grown up in Los Angeles, but Charles Lederer had been brought there when he was 11 by Marion Davies, his mother's sister.
8.
Charles Lederer thus knew the movie colony inside out as seen from the top and wasn't impressed.
9.
When he was 19, Charles Lederer became friends with Ben Hecht, who introduced him to the New York literati.
10.
Charles Lederer later moved back to Hollywood to become a full-time screenwriter.
11.
Charles Lederer is recognized for his acerbic wit, with adaptations and collaborative screenplays written mostly during the 1940s and early 1950s.
12.
Charles Lederer's comedy writing was among the best of the period, and he, along with Hecht and Herman Mankiewicz became major contributors to the film genre known as "screwball comedy".
13.
Charles Lederer was friends with screenwriters Joseph and Herman Mankiewicz.
14.
Marion was childless, and Charles Lederer was very close to her; he spent a great deal of his time at her various dwelling places, and took his friends to meet both her and Hearst.
15.
Charles Lederer was so proud of his script that he lent a copy to Charles Lederer.
16.
In some crazily naive way, Mankiewicz seems to have imagined that Charles Lederer would be pleased by how good it was.
17.
Charles Lederer asked me if I thought Marion would be offended and I said I didn't think so.
18.
From 1940 to 1943 Charles Lederer worked at MGM where he wrote a series of light comedies, usually centering on mismatched couples.
19.
Charles Lederer wrote or co-wrote screenplays for Howard Hawks's production of His Girl Friday, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and the Lewis Milestone remake of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando.
20.
Charles Lederer was valued as a Hollywood screenwriter who produced lively, acerbic adaptations and worked well in collaboration with others.
21.
Charles Lederer was a member of another circle of writers on the East Coast which included Moss Hart, George S Kaufman, Howard Dietz, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and editor Harold Ross.
22.
Charles Lederer grew up in Hollywood, and spent much of his time at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, his aunt's primary home with newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.
23.
Charles Lederer was her knight-errant and no one, not even Hearst, ever reckoned with Marion alone from then on; they knew that they were dealing, too, with nephew Charlie.
24.
Hearst asked Charles Lederer to help rewrite the script for another Davies film, Hearts Divided, which he did without credit.
25.
In 1950, Hearst personally asked Charles Lederer to find him an attorney to draw up a trust agreement for his will in order to provide Davies with a lifetime income from the Hearst estate after his death.
26.
Charles Lederer remained close to Davies after Hearst's death in 1951.
27.
Charles Lederer married Virginia Nicolson Welles, ex-wife of Orson Welles, May 18,1940, in Phoenix, Arizona.
28.
Now, in the unlikeliest of turnarounds, Orson and the witty, intelligent Charles Lederer became great chums.
29.
Vidal said that Davies told this intimate detail to Charles Lederer, who mentioned it to him.
30.
Charles Lederer seemed to be great pals with my stepfather, Charlie Lederer.
31.
Charles Lederer was more likely to arrive unannounced and then madden the cook by staying for lunch or dinner.
32.
Virginia Welles gave some of the reasons Charles Lederer became close friends with Welles:.
33.
Charles Lederer was a hell of a lot easier to live with, I can tell you.
34.
Charles Lederer was forced to stay in New York's Waldorf hotel for three days, during which time Lederer remained with him while they worked on a script for The Shadow, which Welles was to direct.
35.
Later, after Welles had been living in Europe, spending most of his time and energy trying to obtain funds to both live and produce other films, Charles Lederer loaned him $250,000.
36.
Charles Lederer was great friends with Harpo Marx and the two constantly cooked up practical jokes at the balls and parties they attended at Hearst Castle, the estate of William Randolph Hearst, such as stealing all the female guests' fur coats and draping them over the statues outside the estate during a heavy snowstorm.
37.
Charles Lederer was a close and lifelong friend of screenwriter Ben Hecht, with whom he co-wrote numerous screenplays.
38.
Charles Lederer has pointed teeth, pointed ears, is nineteen years old, completely bald and stands on his head a great deal.
39.
Charles Lederer was famed on both coasts as a sardonic wit and "incessant practical joker," which endeared him to Hecht.