Celebrity Biographies
Millard Kaufmann
Apart from being the co-creator of the legendary animated character Mr. Magoo, the writer Millard Kaufman leaves a handful of great quality films for posterity. He was nominated for an Oscar twice, and wrote several novels. Kaufman died on March 14, at age 92, of a heart attack at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
Born on March 12, 1917 in Baltimore (Maryland), his first vocation was the sea, as he worked as a sailor before entering high school. He was also at sea when he served as a soldier, during World War II, and took part in the Guadalcanal campaign. He debuted as a screenwriter creating Mr. Magoo together with director John Hubley, in the short film Ragtime Bear , a true animation classic. He then served as ‘cover’ for Dalton Trumbo , who had written Gun Fiend , but was officially unable to work because he was blacklisted by Senator McCarthy’s Un-American Activities Committee. The first feature film he wrote was Unknown World., inspired by ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’, by Jules Verne.
Happily married and father of three, Millard Kaufman was a two-time Oscar nominee, for Footmen , and Conspiracy of Silence , starring Spencer Tracy , as a stranger who comes to a town hiding a terrible secret. He was also the author of Raintree County , When Blood Boils , The Warlord , Living Free , and Clansman . At the age of 86, he discovered a new professional facet, as he debuted as a novelist with the book ‘A Bowl of Cherries’, which was published in 2007. He had finished a second novel, ‘Misadventure’, which will be published in a few months.