Tidyman was born inCleveland, Ohio, the son of Kathryn (Kascsak) and Benjamin Ralph Tidyman, a crime reporter forThe Plain Dealer.[3] He was of Hungarian and British descent.[4] He began his career as a copyboy in Cleveland when he was 14 years old, having dropped out of school in grade seven.
Tidyman enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1946, serving inpublic relations. He worked as a journalist and crime reporter for the next two decades in a number of cities, including a stint as editor ofDiners Club magazine, and writing forThe New York Times (1960–66),New York Post (1957–60), male magazines and black newspapers.[5] In 1968 he wrote his first novel,Flower Power about hippies. He then decided to write about a black detective,Shaft.[6][7]
He later said about writingShaft, "Reading black fiction, you see that the central figure is either super hero or super victim, as in[William] Styron's book. The blacks I knew were smart and sophisticated, and I thought, what about a black hero who thinks of himself as a human being, but who uses his black rage as one of his resources, along with intelligence and courage."[8]
His novelShaft was read by Philip d'Antoni, who hired him to writeThe French Connection. According to that film's director,William Friedkin, "We think he has the potential to be a better than average thriller writer. [...] He writes people so that an audience can define characters quickly, but then complications begin to set in." Friedkin said he rewrote much of the script "But Tidyman's name will be first" on the credits.[6] Friedkin's rewriting and credit grab annoyed Tidyman, who downplayed the director's contribution.
The dual success ofShaft andFrench Connection made Tidyman one of the top screenwriters in the business. "Tidyman from a standing start suddenly looks like a one man resuscitator for the movie as public entertainment", wroteTheLos Angeles Times.[8] Tidyman was one of the few filmmakers to speak up for the much-malignedJames T. Aubrey, president ofMGM, who financedShaft. "Nobody ever lied to me at MGM or told me they were going to do something they didn't do", he said.[9]
However, he was not happy with the final films, particularlyShaft, and decided to move into producing as well, establishing Ernest Tidyman Productions in 1971.[10] Ernest Tidyman Productions was changed to Ernest Tidyman International, Ltd., in 1971 and back to Ernest Tidyman Productions in 1979. Tidyman also established Shaft Productions in 1972 to handleShaft's sequels, Pilgrim Productions to handleBig Bucks, and Family Trouble Productions to produce an unmade filmFamily Trouble.[11]
"You have to hyphenate", he said. "If you've got an idea, you'd better write it, and then you'd better produce it, so you can control it. This town depends more on the men who write, on the storytellers, than on anybody else, and it doesn't begin [...] to know how to deal with them rightly."[8]
In 1974, he publishedDummy, a non-fiction account of the story ofDonald Lang, an accused deaf-mute murderer. It was nominated for anEdgar in the Fact Crime category. He adapted the book intoa 1979 TV movie starringLeVar Burton.[12]
In 1980, he wrote the teleplay for the TV movieGuyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones, which he also had a hand in producing, which got him anEmmy nomination. For creating theShaft books, he became one of the few white individuals to win anNAACP Image Award.
"I write for money", Tidyman said in a 1980 interview. He got up at six am and wrote for 12 hours a day.[13]
Tidyman summed up the three main elements of his craft as:
"Drama, usually in the event itself, clarity of the telling, and most importantly, energy: the energy that I am able to infuse into the same words that are available to anybody who knows the language and its structure. If I can tell a story in a way that contains energy – a force – I think it's fairly certain it will be told in an interesting way."[13]
Tidyman married five times. He had two sons, Ben (adopted) and Nathaniel, with his third wife Ruth Rayle Tidyman. With his fourth wife, Susan Gould, he fathered two children – Adam and Nicholas.[11]
^A. H. WEILER (March 1, 1970). "After 'Midnight,' a Dark 'Day'".New York Times. p. 103.
^abA. H. WEILER (April 21, 1974). "News of the Screen: Glenda Jackson In Genet's 'Maids' Tidyman, Hancock Joining Talentss Joyce Selznick Sets Sequel to 'Claudine' Short Takes: RoleFor Burt Reynolds".New York Times. p. 51.
