American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author
President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw), 1969-71, 1979-81, 1985-87.
He was a gag writer for Bob Hope s radio show in the 1930s.
He was born in Brooklyn, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. After graduating from Cornell University in 1937 he wrote a humorous column for a campus newspaper, as well as wrote and produced a radio show. His work on that show came to the attention of Bob Hope , who promptly recruited him.
I miss being young.
Working for Warner Brothers was like making love to a porcupine--a,thousand pricks against one.
