Morton Fine

Morton Fine
Born(1916-12-24)December 24, 1916
Baltimore, Maryland
DiedMarch 7, 1991(1991-03-07) (aged 74)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSt. John's College
University of Pittsburgh
OccupationScreenwriter
Known forI Spy, The Pawnbroker

Morton Fine (December 24, 1916 – March 7, 1991) was an American screenwriter.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Fine worked in an advertising agency, a bookstore, and an aircraft factory before joining the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 during World War II. A graduate of St. John's College in Annapolis, Fine returned to school after his military service ended in 1944 and earned a master's degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh. After an unprofitable stint writing for magazines, he moved to California and turned to writing for radio programs. It was then that he met David Friedkin and began a long writing partnership. Fine wrote several nationally broadcast radio shows in collaboration with David Friedkin, including Broadway Is My Beat and Crime Classics.[1]

The writing duo then moved on to film and television where their credits include The Pawnbroker (for which he won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama in 1965),[2] The Nativity, The Greek Tycoon, I Spy, The Next Man, The Most Deadly Game,[3] and several television Westerns including The Rifleman, The Big Valley, Maverick, The Virginian and more.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ "Morton Fine and David Fredkin Write of Murder in 'Broadway's My Beat'". Sherbrooke Telegram. Sherbrooke, Quebec. June 15, 1950. p. 14. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  2. ^ "Hollywood Writers Choose Best Screenplay Authors". The New York Times. New York, NY. March 23, 1966. Retrieved November 1, 2011. Morton Fine and David Friedkin won the award for the best-written drama for The Pawnbroker.
  3. ^ "Adding glamor to 'The Most Deadly Game'". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. October 10, 1970. pp. 8–9. Retrieved November 1, 2011. The series was created by one of today's most successful writing-producing teams, Morton Fine and David Friedkin, who were responsible for television's I Spy, and also wrote the screenplay for the award-winning motion picture The Pawnbroker [...]
  4. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (August 1, 1956). "TV Alumni Shoot Movie In 9 Days; Fine and Friedkin Complete Work on 'Capital Offense' at M-G-M in Record Time". The New York Times. New York, NY. p. 18. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  5. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (August 31, 1956). "MGM Woos Pair From Television; Studio Signs Morton Fine and David Friedkin, '9-Day Wonders,' for More Films James Stewart's Plans". The New York Times. New York, NY. p. 9. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
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