Benjamin F. Glazer | |
|---|---|
 Glazer in a photograph taken before September 1927 | |
| Born | May 7, 1887 |
| Died | March 18, 1956(1956-03-18) (aged 68) Hollywood, Los Angeles,California, U.S.A. |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania Law School, (University of Pennsylvania) inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Occupations | Screenwriter, translator, producer, Foley artist, film director |
| Spouse | Sharon Lynn (m. 1932) |
Benjamin F. Glazer (May 7, 1887 – March 18, 1956) was ascreenwriter,producer,Foley artist, anddirector of American films from the 1920s through the 1950s. He made the first translation of author / playwrightFerenc Molnár's playLiliom (1909) intoEnglish from its originalHungarian (Magyar) in 1921. His translation was used in the first American live stage play performance that year and later in the subsequent 1930film version, and in every production in English of the play for the 115 years since its 1909 writing until recently. It also served as the basis for thelibretto forRodgers and Hammerstein'sCarousel, as well as forPhoebe andHenry Ephron's screenplay for the 1956film version.
Glazer was born inBelfast,Northern Ireland /Ulster, United Kingdom, into aHungarianJewish family.[1] After crossing the Atlantic Ocean and moving to the United States, in the early 20th century, he moved south toPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, studied at theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School, and passed the Pennsylvaniabar exam to practice and become alawyer in 1906.
Glazer was one of the founding members of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which began awardingAcademy Awards (Oscars) in 1927. He is best known for his Oscar-winning writing for7th Heaven (1927) in the academy's first awards ceremony andArise, My Love (1940). Additional screenwriting credits extended from thesilent film era (1896-1927), and into the subsequent period of thesound films (also known as "talkies", generally increasingly after 1927). They includeThe Merry Widow,Flesh and the Devil,Mata Hari,A Farewell to Arms,We're Not Dressing, andTortilla Flat.
Glazer also directed one film, the 1948Song of My Heart, a highly fictionalized biography (Biopic) of the famousRussianclassical music composerTchaikovsky.
Glazer was married to actressSharon Lynn, who had her own film career.
He died of circulatory failure inHollywood at the age of 68.
(as screenwriter unless otherwise noted)
