Jo Swerling

Oscar-nominated Hollywood screenwriter 'Jo Swerling' (qv), who also was a Tony Award-winning Broadway writer and lyricist, was born in Berdichev, Ukraine in what was then the Russian Empire. His family emigrated from Czarist Russia and he grew up on the Lower East Side in New York City.From a youthful job peddling newspapers, he worked his way up to becoming a journalist, working on newspapers and magazines in the 1920s, including the prestigious "Vanity Fair". He became a playwright, like other famous journalists of the era (most notably 'Ben Hecht' (qv) and 'Charles MacArthur' (qv) of _The Front Page (1931)_ (qv) fame). Swerling wrote the stage show "Street Cinderella" for the 'The Marx Brothers' (qv) and the screenplay for their first film, the 1921 comedy short _Humor Risk (1921)_ (qv), starring Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo. Groucho supposedly hated it so much, he burned the negative. The movie was never released.Swerling's first legitimate production on the Great White Way was the musical-revue "The New Yorkers", which ran for a then-respectable 52 performances in March and April 1927. Swerling wrote the book and the lyrics for the songs. His next foray on Broadway was the more successful "Kibitzer", an original comedy he co-wrote with 'Edward G. Robinson' (qv) (who also co-starred in the show). It ran for 120 performances in February through June 1929.Wall Street famously laid an egg in October 1929, and Swerling would not be back on Broadway for 21 years. Hollywood beckoned.In 1929, Universal adapted his play "The Understander" into the movie _Melody Lane (1929)_ (qv) while Paramount released _The Kibitzer (1930)_ (qv) the following year (without the participation of 'Edward G. Robinson' (qv)). Columbia Pictures, the premier studio on Hollywood's "Poverty Row", hired Swerling, and his first screen credit was for the screenplay for Frank Capra's _Ladies of Leisure (1930)_ (qv). He would received screen credit on Capra's next five films in the period 1930-32, before Capra turned to 'Robert Riskin' (qv) as his main collaborator. (Jo would work on the screenplay for Capra's classic _It's a Wonderful Life (1946)_ (qv), providing additional scenes.)Swerling worked on scores of films before he received his last screen credit for _King of the Roaring 20's: The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961)_ (qv) in 1961. He received his sole Oscar nomination for _The Pride of the Yankees (1942)_ (qv). He was one of the many screenwriters, including 'Ben Hecht' (qv), who worked uncredited on the Oscar-winning _Gone with the Wind (1939)_ (qv) screenplay (won by 'Sidney Howard' (qv)).Swerling's greatest professional success came when he returned to Broadway, co-writing the book for the classic musical _Guys and Dolls (1955)_ (qv) with 'Abe Burrows' (qv), for which he shared the Tony and the New York Drama Critics' Circle 'Awards' (qv) for Best Musical. The show was a smash, running from November 1950 to November 1953 for a total of 1,200 performances. The screenplay for the 1955 movie adaptation was written by director 'Joseph L. Mankiewicz' (qv), whose brother 'Herman J. Mankiewicz' (qv) shared an Oscar nod for Best Screenplay in 1943 with Swerling.'Jo Swerling' (qv) died in Los Angeles, California on October 23, 1964. He was 71 years old.::Jon C. Hopwood