Morrie Ryskind | |
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| Born | Morris Ryskind (1895-10-20)October 20, 1895 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 1985(1985-08-24) (aged 89) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Education | Columbia University |
| Years active | 1929–1972 |
| Spouse | Mary House (1929–1985) |
| Children | 2[1] |
Morris Ryskind (October 20, 1895 – August 24, 1985) was an American dramatist, lyricist and writer of theatrical productions and movies who became aconservative political activist later in life.
Ryskind was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Ida (Edelson) and Abraham Ryskind.[2] He attended Columbia University but was suspended shortly before he was due to graduate after he called university presidentNicholas Murray Butler "Czar Nicholas" in the pages of the humor magazineJester in 1917. Ryskind was criticizing Butler for refusing to allowIlya Tolstoy to speak on campus.[3]
From 1927 to 1945, Ryskind was author of numerous scripts and musical lyrics for Broadway productions and Hollywood films, and he later directed several productions. He collaborated withGeorge S. Kaufman on several Broadway hits. In 1933, he earned thePulitzer Prize for drama for the Broadway productionOf Thee I Sing, a musical written in collaboration with composerGeorge Gershwin.[4]
Ryskind wrote or cowrote severalMarx Brothers theatrical and screenplays, including the book for the Broadway musicalAnimal Crackers (1929) (with Kaufman), and he wrote the screenplays for the film versions ofThe Cocoanuts (1929) andAnimal Crackers (1930).
Later he cowrote, again with Kaufman, the screenplay forA Night at the Opera (1935), which helped revive interest in the Marx Brothers and was selected by theAmerican Film Institute as amongthe top 100 comedy films. In working on that script, Ryskind was heavily involved in the "cleanup process", watching the brothers repeatedly perform sections of the play before live audiences to determine which lines worked and which did not. In an interview with Richard J. Anobile inThe Marx Brothers Scrapbook, Groucho Marx said that he was so appalled by an early draft of the script, which was reportedly written byBert Kalmar andHarry Ruby, that he screamed "Why fuck around with second-rate talent, get Kaufman and Ryskind [to write the screenplay]!"[5]
Ryskind also rewrote the stage version ofRoom Service (1938), reworking the plot to make the film suitable for the Marx Brothers.[6]
During that period, Ryskind was twice nominated for anAcademy Award for his part in writing the filmsMy Man Godfrey (starringCarole Lombard, 1936) andStage Door (starringKatharine Hepburn, 1937). Later, he wrote the screenplay for the successfulPenny Serenade, wrote the stage musicalLouisiana Purchase (which soon became a film starringBob Hope) and supervised the production ofThe Lady Comes Across.[7]
For many years, Ryskind had been a member of theSocialist Party of America, and during the 1930s he participated in party-sponsored activities, even performing sketches at antiwar events, but he split with the party'sOld Guard faction led byLouis Waldman. His politics soon moved to the political right. In 1940, Ryskind abandoned theDemocratic Party, and he opposed PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt's pursuit of a third term, writing the campaign song for that year'sRepublican Party presidential nomineeWendell Willkie.[8] He maintained some ties to the Socialist Party throughout the 1940s and served as a vice chairman of theKeep America Out of War Congress.
He became a friend to writersMax Eastman,[9]Ayn Rand,[10]John Dos Passos,[11]Suzanne La Follette[12] andRaymond Moley.[13] Later, he would become a friend toWilliam F. Buckley Jr. and future presidentRonald Reagan.[14] In 1947, he appeared before theHouse Un-American Activities Committee as a "friendly witness" at hearings that resulted in theblacklisting of the "Hollywood Ten," includingRing Lardner Jr. andDalton Trumbo. Ryskind never sold another script after that appearance, and he believed that his appearance before HUAC was responsible, although there is no direct evidence of an organized campaign against the "friendly witnesses."[15]
In the 1950s, Ryskind contributed articles toThe Freeman,[16] In 1954, he was also a board member of theAmerican Jewish League Against Communism.[17]
He lent money to Buckley to help startTheNational Review,[18] which began publication in 1955, another journal to which he was an early contributor. Ryskind briefly joined theJohn Birch Society but soon disassociated himself from the group after it began to claim that Roosevelt,Harry S. Truman andDwight D. Eisenhower were part of theSoviet conspiracy.[19] He was also a vocal sympathizer with the anti-ZionistAmerican Council for Judaism.
In 1960, Ryskind started to write a feature column in theLos Angeles Times that promoted conservative ideas for the next 11 years. His sonAllan H. Ryskind was the longtime editor of the conservative weeklyHuman Events.[20]
The elder Ryskind's autobiographyI Shot an Elephant in My Pajamas: The Morrie Ryskind Story details his adventures from Broadway to Hollywood as well as his conversion to conservative politics.
