Celebrity Biographies
Tom Mankiewicz
Tom Mankiewicz was occasionally a director and producer, although his true calling was film scriptwriting. Author of the script for Superman , and several of the best-known titles in the James Bond saga, Mankiewicz came from one of Hollywood’s most legendary family clans. The screenwriter passed away on July 31, 2010, at 68, in Los Angeles, due to pancreatic cancer.
Born June 1, 1942, in Los Angeles, Thomas F. Mankiewicz was the son of legendary filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz , responsible for such titles as Naked Eve . His uncle, Herman Mankiewicz, was the screenwriter for Citizen Kane . He studied at Phillips Exeter School, in New Hampshire, and graduated in Theater from Yale University.
Tom Mankiewicz made his film debut as an assistant to director Michael Curtiz in The Comancheros , which was the last job of the director of Casablanca . After writing a few plays for the Broadway theater, and a couple of television series, he is recruited as a screenwriter to adapt a novel that gave rise to The Beach (1968) , a drama with Anthony Franciosa and Jacqueline Bisset .
His second job, Diamonds for eternity , pigeonholed him in the 007 saga, since later he would also write Live and Let Die –Roger Moore ‘s first film incarnating the character– and The Man with the Golden Gun . As a screenwriter, he cultivated action cinema ( El puente de Casandra ) and the war genre ( The eagle has arrived ) and although he did not appear in the credits, he was one of the authors of the script for Superman , along with Mario Puzo and Robert Benton , among others. others. Also uncredited, he contributed to Superman II . Mankiewicz wrote and directed Two Clueless Hounds , with Tom Hanks , and was one of the writers of Lady Hawk .