Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: David Wolff

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Passaic, New Jersey, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 36

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Benjamin D. Maddow (August 7, 1909 in Passaic, New Jersey – October 9, 1992 in Los Angeles, California) was a prolific screenwriter and documentarian from the 1930s through the 1970s. Educated at Columbia University, Maddow began his career working within the American documentary movement in the 1930s. In 1936 he co-founded the short-lived left-wing newsreel The World Today. Under the pseudonym of David Wolff, Maddow co-wrote the screenplay to the Paul Strand–Leo Hurwitz documentary landmark, Native Land (1942). He earned his first feature screenplay credit with Framed (1947). Other screenplays include Clarence Brown's Intruder in the Dust (1949, an adaptation of the William Faulkner novel), John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950, for which he received an Academy Award nomination), Johnny Guitar (1954, credited to Philip Yordan, God's Little Acre (1958, an adaptation of the Erskine Caldwell novel officially credited to Philip Yordan as a HUAC-era "front" for Maddow), and, again with Huston, an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Screenplay) and The Unforgiven (1960). As a documentarian he directed and wrote such films as Storm of Strangers, The Stairs, and The Savage Eye (1959), which won the BAFTA Flaherty Documentary Award. Maddow made his solo feature directorial debut with the striking, offbeat feature An Affair of the Skin (1963), a well-acted story of several loves and friendships gone sour and marked by the rich characterisations which had distinguished his best screenplays. In 1961, Maddow and Huston co-wrote the episode "The Professor" of the 1961 television series The Asphalt Jungle. In 1968 he wrote a screenplay based on Edmund Naughton's novel McCabe; while a film adaptation of the novel was ultimately produced as McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Maddow wasn't credited on the film. His final screenplay was for the horror melodrama The Mephisto Waltz (1970).

Most Famous Work

The Unforgiven
Average
6

The Unforgiven

(1960) Screenplay
The Wild One
Average
7

The Wild One

(1953) Additional Writing
Johnny Guitar
Average
7

Johnny Guitar

(1954) Writer
The Way West
Average
6

The Way West

(1967) Screenplay
The Asphalt Jungle
Average
8

The Asphalt Jungle

(1950) Screenplay
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Average
7

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

(1969) Screenplay
The Man from Colorado
Average
7

The Man from Colorado

(1948) Screenplay
Men in War
Average
7

Men in War

(1957) Screenplay

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1989 Self
Year Character Movie/Tv

Writing

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1963 Director
1960 Director
1950 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Production

Year Role Movie/Tv
1963 Producer
Producer
1960 Producer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Crew

Year Role Movie/Tv
1953 Additional Writing
Year Role Movie/Tv

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