Dean Riesner
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2022) |
Dean Reisner | |
|---|---|
 Reisner in 1923 | |
| Born | November 3, 1918 New Rochelle, New York,United States |
| Died | August 18, 2002(aged 83) Encino, California,United States |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1941–1991 |
Dean Riesner(November 3, 1918 – August 18, 2002)[1]was an American film and television writer.
Biography
[edit]Riesner was born in New Rochelle, New York. His father,Charles Reisner,was aGerman Americansilent film director, and Dean began acting in films at the age of four asDinky Dean.His most notable role was inCharlie Chaplin's 1923 filmThe Pilgrim.His career at this young age ended because his mother wanted her son to have a real childhood. As an adult, his first job in films was as a co-writer of the 1939Ronald ReaganmovieCode of the Secret Service.
Riesner won an Oscar for directingBill and Coo(1948), a feature film with a cast of real birds, costumed as humans, acting on the world's smallest film set.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Riesner worked primarily in television, including writing forRawhideand the "Tourist Attraction" episode ofThe Outer Limits,although he occasionally contributed to feature films likeThe Helen Morgan Story.In 1968 he landed a job working on theClint Eastwoodaction filmCoogan's Bluff,and this in turn would lead to him writing several other Eastwood features throughout the 1970s. Riesner helped pen the screenplays for two Eastwood films in 1971,Play Misty for Meand the originalDirty Harry.In 1973 he provided an uncredited rewrite forHigh Plains Drifter,and in 1976, he was one of the writers to draftThe Enforcer,the thirdDirty Harrythriller. That same year he provided the teleplay for ABC's highly rated miniseriesRich Man, Poor Man,starringPeter StraussandNick Nolte.In 1979, he wrote an early draft screenplay forThe Godfather Part III,but his script was discarded whenFrancis Ford CoppolaandMario Puzoagreed to collaborate on a third entry in the series.
Riesner continued to write into the 1980s, but most of his work from that period went uncredited. These films includeDas Boot,The Sting II,Blue ThunderandStarman.[citation needed]He is the credited writer forFatal Beauty.
Riesner married actressMaila Nurmi,better known as thehorror hostessVampira, in 1949. They divorced in the 1950s. Riesner died in 2002 of natural causes in Encino, California.
References
[edit]- ^"Dean Riesner | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".AllMovie.Retrieved2022-08-24.
External links
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