Abby Mann

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_Mann Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.[1]

Contents [show] Life and career[edit] Born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia, he grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He was best known for his work on controversial subjects and social drama. His best known work is the screenplay for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), which was initially a television drama which aired in 1959. Stanley Kramer directed the film adaptation, for which Mann received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In his acceptance speech, he said:

"A writer worth his salt at all has an obligation not only to entertain but to comment on the world in which he lives."[2]

Mann later adapted the play for a 2001 production on Broadway, which featured Maximilian Schell from the 1961 film in a different role.[3] In the introduction to the printed script, Mann credited a conversation with Abraham Pomerantz, U.S. Chief Deputy Counsel, for giving him the initial interest in Nuremberg.[4] Mann and Kramer also collaborated on the film A Child is Waiting (1963).

Working for television, he created the television series Kojak, starring Telly Savalas. Mann was executive producer, but was credited as a writer also on many episodes.[5] His other writing credits include the screenplays for the television films The Marcus-Nelson Murders, The Atlanta Child Murders,[6] Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story,[7] and Indictment: The McMartin Trial,[8] as well as the film War and Love.[9] He also directed the 1978 NBC TV miniseries King.

He died of heart failure in Beverly Hills, California on March 25, 2008, aged 80.[10][11] He died one day after Richard Widmark, one of the stars of Judgment at Nuremberg.

His stepson is former Israeli Special Forces operative Aaron Cohen.[12]

Mann is interred in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.

Selected filmography[edit] Port of Escape (1956) Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) A Child Is Waiting (1963) The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973) King (1978, also director) The Atlanta Child Murders (1985) Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992)