Charles K. Eastman

Charles Eastman
Born	Charles Kemper Eastman (1929-09-18)September 18, 1929 Los Angeles, California
Died	July 3, 2009(2009-07-03)(aged 79) Culver City, California
Occupation	Screenwriter,Director
Language	English
Period	1950s – 2009
Notable works	Little Fauss and Big Halsy
Notable awards	Best Screenplay of the Year (1970),Esquire O. Henry Award(1993)

Charles Kemper Eastman(September 18, 1929 – July 3, 2009) was an Americanscreenwriterandscript doctor.He wrote the screenplay for the 1970 filmLittle Fauss and Big Halsy;he wrote and directedThe All-American Boy.Charles Eastman died from complications of heart disease in Culver City, California on July 3, 2009.

Early life

Eastman was born inLos Angeles, California,into a working-class family employed in motion pictures. His father worked atWarner Bros.as agrip,and his mother was a longtime secretary forBing Crosby.Eastman's sisterCarolealso became a screenwriter.

Career and works

Eastman began his career working in the Crosby office and appears as a prominent extra in many Bing Crosby films. He was working in the script department atCBSin the 1950s and had written several plays that found a place in Los Angeles theatre, includingLa Peregrina,Victorey,The Root of the Iceplant,andThe Hamster of Happiness.The Hamster of Happinessbecame a screenplay produced atNBCas anExperiment in Television,withSusan TyrrellandMildred Dunnock,and later a motion picture atLorimarunder the titleSecond-Hand Hearts,directed byHal Ashby.

Eastman was a "gifted and eccentric" writer, according to theLos Angeles Times,who turned down option offers on his screenplays during the 1960s unless he could direct them himself.He is considered one of Hollywood's most accomplishedscript doctors;examples of this uncredited work includeOtto Preminger'sBunny Lake Is Missingas well asThe Loved One,The Cincinnati Kid,The Americanization of Emily,This Property Is Condemned,Who'll Stop the Rain,The Planet of the ApesandHeaven Can Wait.

Eastman's screenplayLittle Fauss and Big Halsywas produced atParamount,directed bySidney J. Furieand released in1970.He sharedEsquiremagazine's Best Screenplay of the Year award with Bertolucci'sThe Spider's Stratagem.Robert Redford,the movie's star, said of the film, "That was the best screenplay of any film I've ever done, in my opinion. It was without a doubt the most interesting, the funniest, the saddest, the most real and original."

Eastman wrote and directedThe All American BoyforWarner Bros.,starringJon Voight.It was Eastman's only directing credit.

Robert Towne,the screenwriter ofChinatown,cited Eastman as an early influence on his work: "Chuck Eastman—Adrian Joyce's brother—wroteHoneybear, I Think I Love You,a very influential screenplay in the fifties that never got made that affected me strongly because there was a guy who was able to use life around him and push as far as anybody writing a novel was going to push. "He later elaborated, "For me, it was quite a revelation because it was the first contemporary screenplay I had read that just opened up the possibilities of everything that you could put into a screenplay in terms of language and the observations of contemporary life".

Little Fauss and Big HalsyandThe All American Boywere among the first screenplays to be published in hardback byFarrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Other original screenplays by Eastman includeApril 17, 1961,The Hundredth Monkey,Cowboy Christmas,andKazhiamira and the Night Guys.He adapted the stories ofDesperadoesandBoomer.Other produced plays he wrote includeThe Un-American Cowboy,Busy Bee Good Food All Night Delicious,andBorders.

Eastman's short story "Yellow Flags" was published inThe Atlanticand later anthologized in the 1993O. Henry PrizeStories collection.

Eastman's photo collection comprising over 50 years of screenplay research and celebrity photos is available throughGetty Images.Peoplemagazine andHello!UK published his pictures of a youngAngelina Joliein February 2009.

External links

• Charles K. EastmanatIMDb