Samuel Hoffenstein

Biography

Lithuanian-born author and screenwriter, in the U.S. from 1894. Hoffenstein graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and subsequently went to work as a reporter for a local newspaper. By 1913, he had moved on to a position as a drama critic for the New York Evening Sun. At the same time, he contributed articles and short stories to Vanity Fair and a regular column to The New York Tribune, as well as writing poetry (one of his collections was entitled "Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing", 1928). Hoffenstein settled in Los Angeles in 1931 and was employed as a screenwriter by Paramount until 1936, and by 20th Century Fox, from 1941 to 1948. He was twice an Oscar co-nominee, respectively for Best Adaptation and Best Screenplay for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (considered one of the best adaptations of a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson) and Laura (1944). He was hired for the latter by supervising producer Bryan Foy. At the time, "Laura" was intended to be a B-movie. After Hoffenstein's revised screenplay (he was chiefly responsible for creating the acidulous character Waldo Lydecker, played brilliantly by Clifton Webb) was submitted, the picture was upgraded to A-status. Hoffenstein died just three years later at the age of 56.