Screenwriter, Playwright, Novelist. He worked best in the comedy and crime genres, often combining the two with a dash of sparkling wit. Kurnitz received an Academy Award nomination for his original screenplay for "What Next, Corporal Hargrove?" (1945), and a Tony nomination for the book of the Broadway musical "The Girl Who Came to Supper" (1964). His plays "Once More, With Feeling" (1958) and "A Shot in the Dark" (1961) were made into films, the latter as a "Pink Panther" vehicle starring Peter Sellers as the bumbling French detective, Inspector Clouseau. He also wrote pulp novels under the pen name Marco Page. Kurnitz was born in New York City. After a stint as a newspaper reporter, he came to Hollywood in 1938 to work on the screen adaptation of his story "Fast Company". Kurnitz scripted nearly 40 films, alone or in collaboration, among them "Fast and Furious" (1939), "The Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941), "See Here, Private Hargrove" (1944), "One Touch of Venus" (1948), "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1949), "The Inspector General" (1949), "A Kiss in the Dark" (1949), "Land of the Pharaohs" (1955), "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957), "Hatari!" (story only, 1962), and "How to Steal a Million" (1966). He died of a heart attack.
Screenwriter, Playwright, Novelist. He worked best in the comedy and crime genres, often combining the two with a dash of sparkling wit. Kurnitz received an Academy Award nomination for his original screenplay for "What Next, Corporal Hargrove?" (1945), and a Tony nomination for the book of the Broadway musical "The Girl Who Came to Supper" (1964). His plays "Once More, With Feeling" (1958) and "A Shot in the Dark" (1961) were made into films, the latter as a "Pink Panther" vehicle starring Peter Sellers as the bumbling French detective, Inspector Clouseau. He also wrote pulp novels under the pen name Marco Page. Kurnitz was born in New York City. After a stint as a newspaper reporter, he came to Hollywood in 1938 to work on the screen adaptation of his story "Fast Company". Kurnitz scripted nearly 40 films, alone or in collaboration, among them "Fast and Furious" (1939), "The Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941), "See Here, Private Hargrove" (1944), "One Touch of Venus" (1948), "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1949), "The Inspector General" (1949), "A Kiss in the Dark" (1949), "Land of the Pharaohs" (1955), "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957), "Hatari!" (story only, 1962), and "How to Steal a Million" (1966). He died of a heart attack.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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