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Wolf Mankowitz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Cyril Wolf Mankowitz 7 November 1924 Spitalfields,London, England |
| Died | 20 May 1998(1998-05-20) (aged 73) County Cork, Ireland |
| Resting place | Golders Green Crematorium |
| Occupation | Writer,playwright,screenwriter |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Downing College, Cambridge |
| Genre | Screenwriting,theatre |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingGered Mankowitz |
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998)[1] was an Englishwriter,playwright andscreenwriter. He is particularly known for four novels—Make Me an Offer (1952),A Kid for Two Farthings (1953),My Old Man's a Dustman[2] andExpresso Bongo (1958) — and other plays, historical studies, and the screenplays for many successful films which have received awards, including the Oscar, Bafta and the Cannes Grand Prix.[3]
Mankowitz was born in Fashion Street inSpitalfields in theEast End of London, the heart ofLondon's Jewish community until the 1940s,[4] ofRussian-Jewish descent. He was educated atEast Ham Grammar School for Boys andDowning College, Cambridge.[1]
Mankowitz originally worked as an antiques dealer.[1] He specialised inporcelain, and in 1953 published a book on thePortland Vase.[1] His first book,Make Me an Offer, was based on his experiences in the antiques trade.[1]
The area in which he grew up provided Mankowitz with the material for his most successful bookA Kid for Two Farthings (1953). This wasadapted as a film by the directorCarol Reed in 1955; Mankowitz wrote the screenplay.[5] In 1958 he wrote the book for the West End musicalExpresso Bongo[1] which was adapted into afilm starringCliff Richard andLaurence Harvey the following year.[6][7] Its directorVal Guest suggested to Harvey that it might be a good idea to model his film role of Johnny Jackson on Mankowitz's own character, and so Harvey arranged a couple of lunches with the unsuspecting writer to study him at close hand, resulting in the character on film sounding something like Mankowitz.[8][9] Mankowitz himself appears in the film's opening credit sequence, wearing asandwich board that bears his writer credit.[9] In 1958 he wrote the scripts for theITVsitcomEast End, West End set in London's East End and starringSid James.[10]
Mankowitz's script forAnthony Asquith's filmThe Millionairess (1960), based on the1936 play byGeorge Bernard Shaw and starringSophia Loren andPeter Sellers, was nominated for aBAFTA Award for best screenplay.[11] Another screenplay at this time was a further collaboration with Val Guest for the science fiction filmThe Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961).[12]
In 1962, Mankowitz offered to introduce his friendCubby Broccoli toHarry Saltzman,[13] holder of the film rights toJames Bond, when Broccoli mentioned he desired to make the Bond series his next film project. Broccoli and Saltzman then formedEon Productions and began co-producing the first Bond film,Dr No, for which Mankowitz was hired as one of the screenwriters. After viewing early rushes, Mankowitz feared that the film would be a disaster and damage his reputation, and insisted on having his name removed from the film's credits.[14] He later collaborated on the screenplay for the non-Eon 1967 Bond movieCasino Royale.[15] He wrote the script forYorkshire Television's serialDickens of London (1976) and the book of the same name based on his research when writing the series.[16]
Mankowitz was an original investor in thePartisan Coffee House, a meeting place for theNew Left just offSoho Square, which functioned from 1958 to 1962.[17] During the late 1960s, he was part-owner of the Pickwick Club in Great Newport Street, offCharing Cross Road in central London.[17][18]
Mankowitz also had a reputation as a playwright. Several of his plays started as either films or television plays. His plays includeThe Samson Riddle,The Bespoke Overcoat,The Hebrew Lesson (for the stage premiere it was retitledThe Irish Hebrew Lesson),It Should Happen to a Dog andThe Mighty Hunter.[19]
In 1944, Mankowitz married Ann Seligmann, apsychoanalyst; the couple met at Cambridge University.[20] They had four sons; the eldest of whom,Gered, is aphotographer.[21] His sister, Barbara Mankowitz, was eminent in the china trade in London.[22]
Mankowitz died ofcancer in 1998 inCounty Cork, Ireland, aged 73; his ashes are at theGolders Green Crematorium.[1][23]
Files placed in the public domain during August 2010 revealed that for a decade after theSecond World War, Mankowitz was suspected by security serviceMI5 of being a communist agent. The investigation was dropped after he cancelled a visit to Russia in 1957.[24]
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