John Blumenthal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1949 (age 76–77) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Tufts University |
| Period | 1984–present |
| Genre | Fiction,nonfiction,screenwriting |
John Blumenthal (born 1949) is an American novelist and screenwriter, known for co-writing the screenplays for the filmsShort Time andBlue Streak.
Blumenthal was born inMiddletown, New York.[1] He attendedTufts University, graduating in 1971.[1][2]
Blumenthal was hired as a fact-checker atEsquire magazine in the early 1970s, when he has 24.[3] His first editorial job, he served under the editorHarold Hayes.[3] In 1973,Nora Ephron, at the time anEsquire columnist, helped Blumenthal get a job atPlayboy as an editor and writer.[3] In addition toEsquire[1] andPlayboy,[4] Blumenthal has also written forSalon.[3]
Several of Blumenthal's books have been loosely based on his experiences in Hollywood, including the 1984 parodyThe Official Hollywood Handbook.[5] Also in 1984, Blumenthal and his friend and fellowPlayboy editorBarry Golson wrote a period-piece romance novella spoof calledLove's Reckless Rash, published bySt. Martin's Press under the pen name Rosemary Cartwheel. In 2013, the duo wrotePassing Wind of Love, a novel-length expansion ofLove's Reckless Rash.[citation needed]
Blumenthal wrote a pair of detective novel spoofs published bySimon & Schuster in 1985, both featuring private detective Mac Slade and set in modern-day Manhattan:The Tinseltown Murders andThe Case of the Hardboiled Dicks.[6]
Blumenthal's 1988 nonfiction bookHollywood High is a history of theLos Angeles public high school founded in 1903 that was attended by numerous celebrities, includingLana Turner,Mickey Rooney,Judy Garland,John Ritter andCarol Burnett.[7]
In 1999, Blumenthal returned to literature with the comic novelWhat's Wrong With Dorfman?[1] His agent sent it to about 20 publishers; it was rejected by all of them, and in 2000 Blumenthal decided to self-publish. In 2002St. Martin's Press bought the book, republishing it the following year.[1] The novel is about the midlife crisis of Hollywood screenwriter and hypochondriac Martin Dorfman, as he faces up to painful childhood memories and deals with a variety of physical ailments and professional setbacks.[8][9]The Wall Street Journal called it "a funny and surprisingly moving story written at the intersection of shtick and angst",[8] andPublishers Weekly described it as "frequently hilarious and unexpectedly touching."[5] It was named one ofJanuary Magazine's favorite books of the year for 2000.[10]
Blumenthal's 2004 comic novelMillard Fillmore, Mon Amour was also published by St. Martin's. The book's central character, Plato G. Fussell, obsesses over writing a 10-volume definitive biography ofMillard Fillmore, the 13th President of the United States.[11] Fussell is a death-obsessed dysfunctional divorced wealthy loner who engages in a relationship with his psychoanalyst's wife after his first wife leaves him.[9][12]
His 2011 novelThree and a Half Virgins is also about a man whose wife leaves him: newly single Jimmy Hendricks is a lonely, middle-aged man revisiting his past by looking up his old girlfriends.[13]
Blumenthal co-wrote the 1990 action comedyShort Time, directed by Gregg Champion and starringDabney Coleman andTeri Garr,[14][15] and the 1999 action comedy filmBlue Streak, directed byLes Mayfield and starringMartin Lawrence.[16][17]Blue Streak brought in over $117 million at the box office worldwide.[18]
Blumenthal is married with two daughters.[19]
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