From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Melville Shavelson April 1 1917 August 8 2007 was an American film director producer screenwriter and author He was President of the Writers Guild of America West WGAw from 1969 to 1971 1979 to 1981 and 1985 to 1987 He came to Hollywood in 1938 as one of comedian Bob Hopes joke writers a job he held for the next five years He is responsible for the screenplays of such Hope films as The Princess and the Pirate 1944 Where Theres Life 1947 The Great Lover 1949 and Sorrowful Jones 1949 which also starred Lucille Ball Shavelson was nominated twice for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay first for 1955s The Seven Little Foys starring Hope in a rare dramatic role and then for 1958s Houseboat He shared both nominations with Jack Rose He also directed both films Other films he wrote and directed include Beau James 1957 The Five Pennies 1959 for which he won a Screen Writers Guild Award It Started in Naples 1960 On the Double 1961 The Pigeon That Took Rome 1962 A New Kind of Love 1963 Cast a Giant Shadow 1966 and Yours Mine and Ours 1968 which starred Henry Fonda and again with Lucille Ball The film a comedy about a widow Lucille Ball and a widower Henry Fonda raising 18 children together When Ms Ball later asked Mr Shavelson how he enjoyed directing her The Associated Press reported he replied Lucy this is the first time I ever made a film with 19 children Ms Ball was not amused In addition to his film work Shavelson created two Emmy awardwinning television series and wrote for a dozen Academy Award shows He also wroteproduced and codirected the sixhour ABC screenplay to the 1979 television miniseries Ike about Dwight D Eisenhower based on the World War II exploits of Gen Dwight Eisenhower He also wrote miniseries Ike The War Years Shavelsons autobiography published by BearManor Media in April 2007 is entitled How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying PS You Cant Shavelson wrote several other books including with Mr Hope Dont Shoot Its Only Me Bob Hopes Comedy History of the United States Putnam 1990 and How to Make a Jewish Movie 1971 a memoir of his experiences while producing and directing Cast a Giant Shadow and the Hollywoodthemed novel Lualda 1973 Shavelson was a noted instructor at USCs Master of Professional Writing Program from 19982006 He taught screenwriting who often cracked to his students Im a writer by choice a producer by necessity and a director in selfdefense Shavelsons first wife Lucille died in 2000 He was married to his second wife Ruth Florea from 2001 until his death in 2007 He had two children Lynne Joiner and Richard Shavelson Description above from the Wikipedia article Melville Shavelson licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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