Melvin Frank Biography (1917-1988)

Born 1917, in Chicago, IL; died of complications from open-heart surgery, October 1988, in Los Angeles, CA; married Juliet (second wife); children: Elizabeth, Andrew, James. Career: Screenwriter, director, and producer. Metlong-time collaborator Norman Panama at the University of Chicago, and movedwith him to Los Angeles, CA, in 1938; began career writing for Bob Hope's radio show. Awards, Honors: Academy Award nomination (shared with NormanPanama), best original screenplay, 1946, for The Road to Utopia; Academy Award nomination (shared with Norman Panama), best story and screenplay, 1954, for Knock on Wood; Academy Award nomination (shared with Norman Panama), best story and screenplay written directly for the screen, 1960, forThe Facts of Life; Academy Award nomination (shared with Jack Rose), best story and screenplay based on factual material or material not previouslypublished or produced, Academy Award nomination, best picture, and Golden Globe Award nomination (shared with Jack Rose), best screenplay-motion picture,all 1974, for A Touch of Class..

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Screenwriter, director, producer
Birth Details: 1917; Chicago, Illinois, United States
Death Details: October, 1988; Los Angeles, California, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
(With Norman Panama) producer, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 1948
Director, The Reformer and the Redhead, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1950
Director, Strictly Dishonorable, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1951
Director and producer, Callaway Went Thataway (also known as The Star Said No), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1951
Director, Above and Beyond, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1952
Director and producer, Knock on Wood, Paramount, 1954
Director and producer, The Court Jester, Paramount, 1956
Director, That Certain Feeling, Paramount, 1956
Director, Li'l Abner, Paramount, 1959
Director and producer, The Jayhawkers, Paramount, 1959
Producer, The Trap (also known as The Baited Trap), Paramount, 1959
Director, The Facts of Life, United Artists, 1960
Producer, The Road to Hong Kong, United Artists, 1962
Director and producer, Strange Bedfellows, Universal, 1964
Producer, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, United Artists, 1966
Director and producer, Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, United Artists,1968
Producer, A Touch of Class, Avco Embassy Pictures Corp., 1973
Director and producer, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Warner Bros., 1974
Director, producer, and song lyricist, The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1976
Director and producer, Lost and Found, Columbia, 1979
Director, Walk Like a Man, 1987

Screenplays
Star Spangled Rhythm, Paramount, 1942
(With Norman Panama) My Favorite Blonde, Paramount, 1942
Happy Go Lucky, Paramount/Republic Pictures, 1943
Thank Your Lucky Stars, Warner Bros., 1943
And the Angels Sing, Paramount, 1944
(With Norman Panama) Road to Utopia, Paramount, 1945
Duffy's Tavern, Paramount, 1945
Our Hearts Were Growing Up, Paramount, 1946
Monsieur Beauclaire, Paramount, 1946
It Had to Be You, Columbia, 1947
(Story only) A Southern Yankee (also known as My Hero), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1948
(With Norman Panama) The Return of October (also known as A Date with Destiny), Columbia, 1948
(With Norman Panama) Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 1948
(With Norman Panama) The Reformer and the Redhead, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1950
(With Norman Panama) Strictly Dishonorable, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1951
Callaway Went Thataway (also known as The Star Said No), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1951
(With Norman Panama) Above and Beyond, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1952
White Christmas, Paramount, 1954
(With Norman Panama) Knock on Wood, Paramount, 1954
(With Norman Panama) The Court Jester, Paramount, 1956
Li'l Abner, Paramount, 1959
The Jayhawkers, Paramount, 1959
(With Norman Panama) The Facts of Life, United Artists, 1960
The Road to Hong Kong, United Artists, 1962
(Story only) Strange Bedfellows, Universal, 1964
(Story only) Not with my Wife, You Don't, Warner Bros., 1966
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, United Artists, 1966
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, United Artists, 1968
(With Jack Rose) A Touch of Class, Avco Embassy Pictures Corp., 1973
The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Warner Bros., 1974
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1976
Lost and Found, Columbia, 1979

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

New York Times, October 15, 1988, .*

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