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DIED
December 30, 2000

RECENT CREDITS
Reuben, Reuben (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1983
House Calls (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1978
Cross of Iron (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1977
Once Is Not Enough (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1975
Any Wednesday (FILM)  Dec. 31, 1966

BIOGRAPHY
The directors with whom screenwriter Julius J Epstein collaborated reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood notables. After working as a radio publicist and writing some one-act plays, he signed on with Warner Bros.,....
The directors with whom screenwriter Julius J Epstein collaborated reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood notables. After working as a radio publicist and writing some one-act plays, he signed on with Warner Bros., receiving his first screenwriting credit for "Living on Velvet" (1934). Epstein would write four screenplays (the last one, 1941's "Honeymoon for Three", with his twin brother-writing partner Philip) for prolific director Lloyd Bacon, who had learned his trade at the elbow of Mack Sennett after years of playing the perfect foil to Charlie Chaplin. He also worked on five screenplays (three with his brother) for William Keighley, most notably "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1941), adapted from the George S Kaufman and Moss Hart play. However, the helmsman with whom he worked most often was Michael Curtiz. Epstein and his brother provided the structure and much of the wit for the Oscar-winning screenplay of Curtiz's masterpiece "Casablanca" (1943), as well as contributing to the director's "Yankee Doodle Dandy" the year before. He also received an Oscar nomination for his efforts on Curtiz's "Four Daughters" (1938).

For the Warners, Epstein and his brother collaborated on Raoul Walsh's "The Strawberry Blonde" (1941), Elliott Nugent's "The Male Animal" (1942, based on the Nugent-James Thurber play) and Frank Capra's adaptation of Joseph Kesselring's play "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944). The pair also worked with Mark Robson ("My Foolish Heart" 1950, based on a J D Salinger story), George Cukor ("Born Yesterday" 1950, uncredited from the Garson Kanin play) and Richard Brooks, ("The Last Time I Saw Paris" 1954, based on an F Scott Fitzgerald story, and "The Brothers Karamazov" 1958, adapted from the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevski), among other directors. Beginning with Philip Leacock's "Take a Giant Step" (1958), which he also produced, Epstein wrote alone for the most part, scripting Joshua Logan's "Tall Story" (1960) and "Fanny" (1961), Norman Jewison's "Send Me No Flowers" (1964) and Robert Ellis Miller's directorial debut, "Any Wednesday" (1966), before earning his third Oscar nomination for Martin Ritt's "Pete 'n' Tillie" (1972, also co-producer). His collaboration on Sam Peckinpaugh's "Cross of Iron" (1977) preceded a final success with his last screenplay (to date) for Miller's "Reuben, Reuben" (1983), which earned him a fourth Oscar nomination.




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Reuben, Reuben
Released: Jan. 1, 1983

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House Calls
Released: Jan. 1, 1978

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Cross of Iron
Released: Jan. 1, 1977

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Once Is Not Enough
Released: Jan. 1, 1975

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Any Wednesday
Released: Dec. 31, 1966


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