Fay Kanin

Fay Kanin
Kanin in 1974
Born	Fay Mitchell (1917-05-09)May 9, 1917 New York City,U.S.
Died	March 27, 2013(2013-03-27)(aged 95) Santa Monica, California,U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter producer
Alma mater	Elmira College
Spouse	Michael Kanin ​ ​ (m.1940; died 1993)​
Children	2

Fay Kanin(néeMitchell;May 9, 1917 – March 27, 2013) was an American screenwriter, playwright and producer. Kanin was president of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesfrom 1979 to 1983.

Biography

BornFay Mitchellin New York City to David and Bessie (née Kaiser) Mitchell, she was raised inElmira, New York,where she won the New York State Spelling Championship at twelve and was presented with a silver cup by then GovernorFranklin Roosevelt.She was encouraged to write for money by supplying small items to theElmira Star Gazette.She wasJewish.

In high school she wrote and produced a children's radio show; then on full scholarship, she attended the private, all-femaleElmira Collegewhere she divided her studies between writing and acting as well as editing the yearbook. Fay's mother took her daughter to visit her grandmother inthe Bronx,and it was there that she became devoted to the theater when she saw a matinée ofIdiot's DelightstarringAlfred LuntandLynn Fontanne.

Hollywood

Kanin longed to move toLos Angelesto get into pictures and her parents indulged her. Her father moved to California first to secure a job, then she and her mother packed everything and followed by train.Kanin spent her senior year at theUniversity of Southern Californiawhere she became active in college radio. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, she wangled an interview withSam Marxwho thought she was much too young to hire; but her next interview was with story editor Bob Sparks atRKOwho sent her to producer Al Lewis, who then hired her as a story editor at $75 a week.RKO released Lewis, but Sparks kept Fay on as scriptreader to write one-page summaries for $25 a week. Kanin proceeded to teach herself everything she could about the movie industry at RKO's expense. During the lunch hour, she talked to anyone she happened to find – whether they were art directors, editors, or cinematographers.

Michael Kanin

There was a small theater at the studio where contract players put on plays. While Kanin was acting inIrwin Shaw'sBury the Dead,she came to the attention of Michael Kanin, who had just been hired as a writer in the B unit. Michael was trained as an artist and had turned to commercial art and painting scenery for burlesque houses to help support his parents during theGreat Depression.They were introduced by a mutual friend, and Michael practically asked Kanin to marry him right then and there, but it took her a little while to come around to the idea.

The Kanins rented a house in Malibu for their honeymoon, and after buyingThe New Yorkershort story byA. J. Lieblingabout a boarding house for boxers, spent the next six months writing its 1942 adaptation,Sunday Punch.They knew they were on the track to a partnership when MGM bought the screenplay.

"We would make a story outline together with rather detailed descriptions of the scenes. Then we divided up the writing, each taking the scenes we felt strongly about. Then one or the other of us would put it all together into a single draft. We did find a common voice, though we had different strengths. As an artist, Michael brought a great visual sense to the process. I was a people person who loved the characters and the dialogue. Through the collaboration, we learned a lot from each other and about each other. But the time came when I felt as if we were together 48 hours a day. Writing with someone else always requires some degree of compromise, as does marriage. When it came down to the question of which would survive, the marriage or the writing partnership, it was a pretty easy decision. But I remember that it was a challenge convincing the powers that be that we had been successful writers individually and would be again. We were hyphenated in people's minds: Fay-and-Michael Kanin. To again become Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin took some doing."

Michael took a job working withRing Lardner Jr.to work on theTracy/HepburnprojectWoman of the Year(1942), based on an original story by his brotherGarson Kanin.Fay Kanin wrote the play,Goodbye, My Fancy,(originally titledMost Likely to Succeed) which was produced on Broadway by Michael.The play told the story of a female congressional representative renewing past loves. Countering existing gender roles, the play made a bold statement about women and their place outside the home. The play was a Broadway smash and starredMadeleine Carroll,Conrad Nagel,andShirley Booth,and was eventually filmed byVincent Shermanin 1951 withJoan CrawfordandRobert Young.

During World War II, Kanin came up with an idea to promote women's participation in the war effort, and presented the idea forA Woman's Angleradio show to the heads ofNBC Radiofor which Kanin would write the scripts and do the network commentary.Along those lines, she contributed to the storyBlondie for Victory,one of the low-budget series based on the popular comic strip, whereBlondieorganizes Housewives of America to perform homefront wartime duties much to the dismay ofDagwood.Kanin even made an acting appearance inA Double Life(1947), co-written by her brother-in-lawGarson Kaninand his wife, actressRuth Gordon.

Teacher's Pet

The Kanins wroteMy Pal Gus(1952) in whichRichard Widmarkbecomes a good father and falls in love withJoanne Dru,theElizabeth TaylorfilmRhapsody(1954) andThe Opposite Sex(1956), a musical remake ofThe Women.But it was the Oscar-nominated script forTeacher's Pet(1958) for which they are best remembered, a film about a self-made newspaper editorClark Gablewho has a love-hate relationship with journalism teacherDoris Day.The film almost did not get made since the Kanins were not under any studio contract, and having shopped the script around without attracting any interest, it was only after a rewrite inspired byGarson Kanin'sBorn Yesterdaythat producerBill Perlbergand directorGeorge Seatonpurchased it.

Blacklist

It was while the couple were on holiday in Europe that the Kanins learned they had been blacklisted by theHUAC.

"What they had against us was that I had taken classes at theActors Labin Hollywood where some of the teachers were from the Group Theater and therefore suspect, and we had been members of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization, an organization in support of World War II to which almost all of Hollywood's writers belonged. It was ridiculous, but it was very real, and there was nothing we could do about it. We took a larger mortgage on the house and started writing a play, but we didn't work in films for almost two years. "

They were unable to find work again until directorCharles Vidorinsisted thatMGMhire the couple forRhapsodyin 1953.

Rashomon

In 1959 the couple adapted Akira Kurosawa'sRashomonfor the Broadwayplay of the same name;with a further adaptation for the screen, inMartin RittsThe Outrage.

Television

In the early 1970s, Kanin began solo writing in earnest withHeat of Anger,about a strong, older woman lawyer played bySusan Haywardand a younger male lawyer. At first, Kanin was put off by the lack of an immediate reaction from an audience, but once she realized that more people had seen it in one night than would have seen it in theaters if it played for a year, she was hooked and wrote five more films for television.

Tell Me Where it Hurtsstarted from a small newspaper article about a group of women inQueenswho got together to just talk. The film starredMaureen Stapletonand won twoEmmys.The following year, she wrote and co-producedHustlingbased onGail Sheehy's non-fiction book. The film was about a prostitute recounting her life to a reporter, and starredJill ClayburghandLee Remick,respectively. For weeks, Kanin interviewed working girls at the Midtown North police station, and after the film aired, she received letters complimenting her on how fairly she had treated them.

The television movieFriendly Firewas seen by an estimated 60 million people in 1979. Written and co-produced by Kanin, it starredCarol Burnettas a mother who challenges the military's "official story" of how her son died in Vietnam. The non-fiction book byC. D. B. Bryanwas about the Mullen family and their discovery that their son had been accidentally killed by American troops. Kanin spent five months secluded with Bryan's research tapes adapting the book, andFriendly Firewon thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama or Comedy Specialthat year.

In 1978, Kanin andLillian Gallo,the producer ofHustling,partnered to form a joint production company, becoming one of the early female production teams in Hollywood.Their company producedFun and GamesforValerie Harper,a tale of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace.ForNorman Lear,Kanin wroteHeartsounds,which starredMary Tyler MooreandJames Garneras a couple coping with heart disease.

Grind

In 1975, Universal Studio producers asked Kanin for a screenplay about a bi-racial burlesque theater in 1933 Chicago. Nothing came of it, but in 1985 Kanin adapted her unproduced screenplay for the stage.The result wasGrind.Directed byHal Princewith choreography byLester Wilson,the cast includedBen Vereenas a song-and-dance man,Stubby Kayeas a slapstick comic, andLeilani Jonesas a stripper named Satin. The production was a disaster; the show lost its entire $4.75 million investment, and Prince and three other members of the creative team were suspended by theDramatists Guild of Americafor signing a "substandard" contract.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Kanin was elected president of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesin 1979, and served four terms until 1983.She was its second female president, following in the footsteps of earlier presidentBette Davis,who left after only one month. She has also served as the president of the Screen Branch of theWriters Guild of Americaand as Chair of theNational Film Preservation Boardof theLibrary of Congress,an officer of theWriters Guild Foundation,a member of the Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a member of the board of directors of theAmerican Film Institute.

Fay Kanin was the vice president of the Academy's 1999–2000 Board of Trustees, and a member of the steering committee of the Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors, which formed in 1974, and of theNational Film Preservation Boardin Washington, D.C.She served on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors from 2007–08.

National Student Film Institute

During the 1980s and 1990s Kanin served on the advisory board of theNational Student Film Institute.

Filmography

• Sunday Punch(1942, screenplay, story)
• Blondie for Victory(1942, story)
• Goodbye, My Fancy(1951, based onher 1948 play)
• My Pal Gus(1952, original screenplay)
• Rhapsody(1954, screenplay)
• The Opposite Sex(1956, screenplay)
• Teacher's Pet(1958, screenplay)
• Rashomon(1959, adaptation)
• The Right Approach(1961, screenplay)
• Play of the Week:Rashomon(1961, teleplay adaptation)
• Congiura dei dieci, La(1962, screenplay)
• The Outrage(1964, adaptation)
• Heat of Anger(1972, teleplay)
• Tell Me Where It Hurts(1974, teleplay)
• Hustling(1975, teleplay, associate producer)
• Friendly Fire(1979, teleplay, co-producer)
• Fun and Games(1980, TV producer)
• Heartsounds(1984, teleplay, producer)

Stage productions

• Goodbye, My Fancy(1948)
• His and Hers(1954) with Michael Kanin
• Rashomon(1959) with Michael Kanin
• The Gay Life(1961) with Michael Kanin (later retitled asThe High Life)
• Grind(1985)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1958	Academy Awards	Best Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen	Teacher's Pet	Nominated
1992	American Society of Cinematographers Awards	Board of the Governors Award		Won
1975	Edgar Allan Poe Awards	Best Television Feature or Miniseries	Hustling	Nominated
1979	Humanitas Prize	90 Minute or Longer Network or Syndicated Television	Friendly Fire	Nominated
2003		Kieser Award		Won
1974	Primetime Emmy Awards	Best Writing in Drama – Original Teleplay	Tell Me Where It Hurts	Won
		Writer of the Year – Special		Won
1975		Outstanding Writing in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy – Original Teleplay	Hustling	Nominated
1979		Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special	Friendly Fire	Won
		Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special		Nominated
1985		Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special	Heartsounds	Nominated
1998	Producers Guild of America Awards	Hall of Fame – Television Programs	Friendly Fire	Won
1985	Tony Awards	Best Book of a Musical	Grind	Nominated
1980	Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards	Crystal Award		Won
1958	Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Written American Comedy	Teacher's Pet	Nominated
1975		Valentine Davies Award		Won
1980		Morgan Cox Award		Won
2005		Edmund H. North Award		Won

References

Bibliography

• Acker, Ally (1991).Reel women: pioneers of the cinema 1896 to the present.London: Batsford.ISBN0-7134-6960-9.
• Beauchamp, Cari (September 2001)."Woman of the Years: An interview with Fay Kanin".Written by (The Magazine of the Writers Guild West).Archived fromthe originalon 2007-06-22.Retrieved2008-03-05.
• Gregory, Mollie (2002).Women who run the show: how a brilliant and creative new generation of women stormed Hollywood.New York: St. Martin's Press.ISBN0-312-30182-0.
• Jones, John Philip (2004).Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theater.Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.ISBN0-87451-904-7.
• Lefcourt, Peter ed. (2000).The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches.New York: PublicAffairs.ISBN1-58648-013-8.{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help)
• Levy, Emanuel (2003).All about Oscar: the history and politics of the Academy Awards.London: Continuum.ISBN0-8264-1452-4.
• Robinson, Alice M.; Roberts, Vera Mowry (1989).Notable women in the American theatre: a biographical dictionary.Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-27217-4.
• Slide, Anthony (1991).The Television industry: a historical dictionary.Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-25634-9.

External links

• Fay KaninatIMDb
• Fay Kaninat theInternet Broadway Database
• Fay Kaninat theInternet Off-Broadway Database