Sidney Bartlett(July 10, 1900 – May 29, 1978, bornSacha Baraniev)[a]was a Ukrainian-American author and screenwriter and producer of Hollywood films.
Sy Bartlett | |
|---|---|
 Sy Bartlett and Alice White 1931. | |
| Born | Sacha Baraniev July 10, 1900 |
| Died | May 29, 1978(aged 77) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, screenwriter, producer of Hollywood films |
Early life
editSy Bartlett was born Sacha Baraniev on July 10, 1900, in the Black Sea seaport ofMykolaivin theRussian Empire(nowUkraine). His parents immigrated to the United States in 1904, settling in Chicago. Bartlett attended Northwestern University and was trained at theMedill School of Journalism.
He worked as a newspaper reporter before moving to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. His first credited work was forRKO Studiosin 1933 and he wrote 28 screenplays from 1933 to 1969. In the 1950s, he became interested in producing films, and with film starGregory Peckfounded Melville Productions in 1956.
Bartlett enjoyed being a Hollywood socialite in the 1930s and was well known for the Sunday barbecues he frequently hosted. He was sometimes connected by tabloids to scandals on occasion, and married three times, each time to Hollywood actresses –Alice White,Ellen Drew,andPatricia Owens.Of Jewish descent, Bartlett was strongly anti-Nazi,once striking an employee of the German consulate in the face during an argument in a nightclub.[1]
Military service
editBartlett joined theU.S. ArmyduringWorld War IIas acaptainand was assigned to theArmy Pictorial Service.However, he was not interested in making training films and used connections to meetBeirne Lay, Jr.,who was on the staff ofArmy Air ForcesBrig. Gen.Ira Eaker.Lay had a background in both journalism and Hollywood and arranged for Bartlett to meet Maj. Gen.Carl Spaatz,and Bartlett became Spaatz'saide-de-camp.[citation needed]
With the establishment of theEighth Air Forcein England, Bartlett was transferred there and joined the staff of the Eighth's Bomber Command as an intelligence assistant. There he came into daily contact with the inner workings of Air Force commanders in England, including Brig. Gen.Frank A. Armstrong,and was a close observer of the development of the Eighth into a powerful combat force. In November 1944,MajorBartlett became the wingintelligence officerfor theB-29315th Bomb Wingunder Armstrong and served with it inGuam.[2]Bartlett also served as abombardierflying in the first bombing mission overBerlinin March 1943.[2]
Return to Hollywood and writing
editFollowing World War II, Bartlett returned to Hollywood and joined20th Century Foxas a writer. In 1946, he began a collaboration with Beirne Lay which resulted in the 1948 publication of the novelTwelve O'Clock High(Harper & Brothers), and in December 1949, the release of the film based on the same story (work on production began a year before publication).[citation needed]
Bartlett died in Hollywood on May 29, 1978, aged 77, from cancer.
Filmography (screenwriter)
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Notes
editReferences
edit- ^Maxwell StreetSurvival in a Bazaar, Publisher Doubleday & Co. Inc., Garden City, New York, 1977 see page 239
- ^abHollywood Man First U.S. Flyer to Bomb Berlin: Maj. Sy Bartlett, Former Film Writer, Drops 4000-Pound 'Cookie' on Target in Nazi CapitalLos Angeles TimesviaNewspapers.Published March 29, 1943. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- Duffin, Alan T., and Matheis, Paul.The 12 O'Clock High Logbook(2005),ISBN1-59393-033-X
External links
edit- Sy BartlettatIMDb
- Portrait of screenwriter Sy Bartlett, Los Angeles, California, circa 1939.Los Angeles TimesPhotographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,Charles E. Young Research Library,University of California, Los Angeles.