Bernstein, Walter, 1919-2021, American screenwriter, b. Brooklyn, NY, Dartmouth College (BA, 1940). After attending high school, Bernstein enrolled at Dartmouth College, where he became the film critic for its student newspaper. After graduation, he was drafted in early 1941 and sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he wrote and staged his first show with his fellow soldiers. Hired to write for Hollywood in the early ‘50s, he was soon blacklisted because of his earlier association with leftwing causes. He was able to resume credited screenwriting in the early ‘60s, scoring with the influential films Paris Blues (1961) and Fail Safe (1964). Using his experiences during the blacklist, he authored the popular film The Front (1976), which earned Bernstein his only Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. His 1997 TV movie script, Miss Evers’ Boys, was nominated for an Emmy.
See his autobiography (1996).
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