Melvin Frank

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Melvin Frank 13 August 1913 in Chicago Illinois 13 October 1988 in Los Angeles California was an American screenwriter film producer and film director He is known for his work on films such as Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House 1948 The Court Jester 1956 and A Touch of Class 1973 Born to a Jewish family Frank graduated from the University of Chicago where he met his future collaborator Norman Panama They went on to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades Some of their most notable films as cowriters include Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House 1948 and White Christmas 1954 among many others and codirecting films such as The Court Jester 1956 They wrote a Broadway play together which was later adapted into Lil Abner 1959 directed by Frank They also worked on two films in the popular Road to series Road to Utopia 1946 and The Road to Hong Kong 1962 Frank went on to a successful solo career as a film director most notably directing the acclaimed romantic comedy A Touch of Class 1973 starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Jackson won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role Subsequent films directed by Frank include The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox 1976 and Lost and Found 1979 Over the course of his career Frank was nominated for five Academy Awards In 1984 he received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America Franks first wife was Anne Ray younger sister of actress Jigee Viertel At the time of his death he was still married to his second wife Juliet He had three children Pulitzer Prizewinning daughter Elizabeth Frank and sons Andrew and James Description above from the Wikipedia article Melvin Frank licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia