Joseph Petracca
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Joseph Petracca(December 16, 1913 – September 28, 1963) was an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and television writer of Italian descent. Born and raised inBrooklyn,New York,Petracca moved to Los Angeles after the end of World War II (during which time he worked as a machinist in theBrooklyn Navy Yard) and worked a series of full-time jobs, mainly as a steam press operator for a laundry and linen rental service, while he pursued his writing in the evenings and began raising a family with his wife Lena. In the early fifties Petracca began publishing fiction in the popular magazines of the day. Throughout the fifties Petracca wrote and collaborated on numerous films for such studios as20th Century FoxandParamount Picturesand in the sixties wrote episodes for such television shows asThe Untouchables,RawhideandRoute 66 (TV series).Petracca is survived by a daughter, Frances Petracca, aneuroscientistandAIDSresearcher, and a son, novelist and university Lecturer EmeritusMichael Petracca.
Fiction
[edit]Petracca had early success as a writer of short stories for magazines such asCollier's WeeklyandThe Saturday Evening Post.Many of his stories featured a fictional Italian-American family, the Espositos, loosely based upon Petracca’s own family. Narrated by one of the Esposito children, Joey, these stories centered on themes of poverty, cultural alienation, and the joyful resiliency of family. Petracca used this same fictional family as the centerpiece for his first novel,Come Back toSorrento,published byLittle, Brown and Companyin the United States, andVictor Gollanczin London, in 1953.
Film
[edit]One of Petracca’s short prose pieces, "Something For the Birds,"[1]- a proto-environmentalist comedy focusing on the plight of theCalifornia condor- was purchased by20th Century Foxstudios in the same year as the release ofCome Back to Sorrento,and Petracca co-authored the screenplay with Alvin M. Josephy[2].The film version of "Something for the Birds" was directed byRobert Wise.Petracca was subsequently hired by Fox studios as a contract writer and for the next several years wrote and collaborated on numerous screenplays, includingSeven Cities of Gold[3](1955) andThe Proud Ones[4](1956). Subsequent to his tenure at Fox, Petracca continued writing and collaborating on screenplays through the end of the fifties, with such titles asThe Jayhawkers!(1959) andThe Proud Rebel[5](1958), starringAlan Ladd,Olivia de Havilland,Dean JaggerandJohn Carradine,and directed byMichael Curtiz.
In the sixties, Petracca turned mainly to writing for television, although he did collaborate with novelist and long-time friendJohn Fanteon a motion picture,The Reluctant Saint(1962), based upon the story of 17th centurySaint Joseph of Cupertino,who, according to legend, had the gift oflevitation (paranormal).That film starredMaximilian Schellin the title role and was directed byEdward Dmytryk.
Television
[edit]Prior to his death from cancer in 1963, Petracca wrote or collaborated on such television projects asAlcoa Presents: One Step Beyond(1960), seven episodes ofThe Untouchables,(1959-1961),The Asphalt Jungle[6](1961),Route 66,Sam Benedict[7](1962),Rawhide(1962-1963), andThe Richard Boone Show(1963).
External links
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- 1913 births
- 1963 deaths
- 20th-century American novelists
- American male novelists
- American male screenwriters
- American writers of Italian descent
- American male short story writers
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 20th-century American male writers
- Screenwriters from California
- 20th-century American screenwriters