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Nathaniel Benchley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nathaniel Goddard Benchley[1] (1915-11-13)November 13, 1915 Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 1981(1981-12-14) (aged 66) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Genre | Children's literature, humorous fiction,biography,historical fiction |
| Spouse | Marjorie Bradford Benchley |
| Children | Peter Benchley Nat Benchley |
Nathaniel Goddard Benchley (November 13, 1915 – December 14, 1981) was an American author from Massachusetts.[2]
Born inNewton, Massachusetts to a literary family, he was the son ofRobert Benchley (1889–1945), a noted American writer, humorist, critic, and actor and one founder of theAlgonquin Round Table in New York City, and Gertrude Darling. He graduated fromPhillips Exeter Academy andHarvard College.[3]
Benchley enlisted in theU.S. Navy prior to theattack on Pearl Harbor.[3] He served as apublic relations officer, and ondestroyers and patrol craft for North Atlantic convoy duty during theBattle of the Atlantic,[4] and was transferred to thePacific Theater in 1945.
After the war Benchley worked for the weekly magazineNewsweek as an assistant drama editor. Harcourt, Brace published Benchley's first book in 1950,Side Street, a novel featuring "hilarious activities of two New York City families living in the East Sixties"[5]—that is, living on the East Side of Manhattan near 60th Street. He wrote a biography of his father Robert that McGraw-Hill published in 1955. In 1960 Harper & Row published his second novel,Sail A Crooked Ship, and Random House his first children's book, retold fromSindbad the Sailor with illustrations by Tom O'Sullivan.[6]
Benchley was the respected author of muchchildren's fiction that provides readers an experience of certain animal species, historical settings, and so on (Oscar Otter,Sam The Minuteman, etc). He presented diverse locales and topics: for instance,Bright Candles recounts the experiences of a 16-year-old Danish boy during theGerman occupation of Denmark in World War II;Small Wolf features aNative American boy who meets white men on theisland of Manhattan and learns that their ideas about land are different from those of his own people.
Sail A Crooked Ship wasadapted as a comedyfeature movie of the same name by Columbia Pictures in 1961. His 1961 novelThe Off-Islanders was made into comedy featureThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming by director/producerNorman Jewison in 1965.The Visitors (1965) was adapted as a horror/comedy featureThe Spirit Is Willing by Paramount Pictures in 1967. In October 1975, ABC showed the made-for-television dramaSweet Hostage, based on Benchley's 1968 novelWelcome To Xanadu.
Benchley was a friend of the actorHumphrey Bogart and wrote a biography of Bogart published in 1975.
Benchley and Margaret Bradford were married not long after his college years. They settled in New York City and had two sons, one before and one after World War II.[3] His eldest sonPeter Benchley (1940–2006) was a writer, best-known for the novelJaws and its1975 screen adaptation, directed bySteven Spielberg. Younger sonNat Benchley is a writer and actor who has portrayed his grandfather, Robert Benchley, in a one-man, semi-biographical stage show,Benchley Despite Himself. The show was a compilation of Robert Benchley's best monologues, short movies, radio rantings, and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by grandson Nat, combined with anecdotes, family reminiscences and friends' perspectives.
Nathaniel Benchley died 1981 in Boston and was interred in the family plot at Prospect Hill Cemetery inNantucket.
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| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short cut | 1950 | Benchley, Nathaniel (January 28, 1950). "Short cut".The New Yorker.25 (49):26–29.. |
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