I once talked to Budd Schulberg, who died yesterday, on the phone; a mutual friend put us in touch in the Fall of 2003 – I was eager to put on an event to mark the 50th anniversary of ‘On the Waterfront’, and, innocent/enthusiastic/grasping and annoying film fan that I was, figured I should just call up the screenwriter and see if he wanted to come to a poetry club on Bleecker Street to talk about it while we showed clips. He was 90 years old by the time I called – and if he had felt significantly older by the time the call was over, I couldn’t blame him. Grace and conciseness don’t always come easy to me. It’s even harder than usual when I’m talking to someone whose identity – although he was just an ordinary guy (and Schulberg would have been at pains to remind people of that fact) – had become mutated and mingled with my memories and experience by virtue of having written a myth that had gotten under my skin. ‘I coulda been a contender’ is, of course, now a cliche – but that’s not Schulberg’s fault: someone had to write it down first, someone had to create it.
Now, who knows what kind of man was Budd Schulberg? Click the link above for some thoughts on the matter.I once talked to Budd Schulberg, who died yesterday, on the phone; a mutual friend put... more
The scathing look at the film industry drew the Hollywood establishment's anger. The writer, who named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee, won an Oscar for 'On the Waterfront.'The scathing look at the film industry drew the Hollywood establishment's anger.... more
Budd Schulberg, the son of a studio boss who wrote a novel that defined the Hollywood hustle and later proved himself a player with the Oscar-winning screenplay for the Marlon Brando classic ``On the Waterfront,'' died Wednesday at age 95.Budd Schulberg, the son of a studio boss who wrote a novel that defined the Hollywood... more
