Sherman Yellen

Sherman Yellen (born February 25, 1932 in New York City) is an Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated playwright and screenwriter.

Biography

Sherman Yellen was born in 1932 to Nathan and Lillian Yellen. He attended the High School of Music & Art in Harlem and graduated from Bard College on the Hudson in 1953 where he met his future wife, Joan Fuhr. They were married after their graduation and have two sons, Nicholas and Christopher, one granddaughter, with two more (twin girls) due in late summer, 2008.

At Bard, Yellen studied creative writing with Texas novelist William Humphrey, was named John Bard Scholar in his sophomore year and received the Wilton E. Lockwood Award for Literature upon graduation.

Yellen attended graduate school at Columbia University where he majored in 18th century English Literature.

Career

Yellen's first play was "New Gods For Lovers", which was produced at the HB Playhouse in New York. This play, entered in a playwrighting competition, won the Hallmark Award, and he began to write television drama for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, and for NBC television, creating such shows as "Cry of Angels," "Beauty and the Beast" (Emmy nomination and Christopher Award) and "An Early Frost" (Emmy Award). His American Civil War television drama, "Day Before Battle", was written in collaboration with his friend, playwright Peter Stone, and appeared on "Studio One". He went on to write notable adaptations of such literary classics as "Great Expectations," "Dr.Jekyl and Mr. Hyde", "Phantom of the Opera" and "The Last Giraffe" - a contemporary show about the Rothschilds giraffe, as well as the PBS series "The Adams Chronicles" (Emmy Award).

Yellen's work in Broadway theatre includes his Tony nominated libretto for the musical, "The Rothschilds", with music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick; "Rex" - a musical about the life and loves of Henry VIII with music by Richard Rodgers, and "Strangers" a biographical drama about Sinclair Lewis. His satirical sketch, "Delicious Indignities" was a highlight of the ground breaking erotic revue, "Oh! Calcutta!" He later incorporated the music of popular songwriter Jimmy McHugh into a new musical about young journalists in Paris in 1927, "Lucky in the Rain," which had a successful run at the Goodspeed Opera. His collaboration with the late composer Wally Harper on "Say Yes" created a light hearted musical comedy about the 1939 New York World's Fair, produced in 2000 by The Berkshire Theatre Festival. It was later revised as "This Fair World" where it was performed at Stages, the festival of new musicals in Chicago. In this and in "Josephine Tonight!" a musical biography of the early life of Josephine Baker produced by Theatre Building Chicago, Yellen was both librettist and lyricist for composer Harper.

Yellen's most recent work is "December Fools" a comedy-drama about a musical comedy composer's widow and her contentious daughter; two women locked into the past who are struggling with each other in the present, produced by Abingdon Theatre Arts in New York, and "Josephine Tonight" produced by Theatre Building Chicago, a musical which The Chicago Sun-Times called a "shining new musical."

Television and Film Credits

* Mörder meiner Mutter, Der (TV movie) - Writer (writer) 1999
* Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (TV movie) - Writer (teleplay) 1990
* I'll Take Manhattan (TV mini-series) - Writer (writer) 1987
* An Early Frost (TV movie) - Writer (story) 1985
* The Phantom of the Opera (TV movie) - Writer (writer) 1983
* The Last Giraffe (TV movie) - Writer (writer) 1979
* Hallmark Hall of Fame (TV series) - Writer (1 episode, 1976): Beauty and the Beast
* The Adams Chronicles (PBS Series) - Writer 1976
* Great Expectations (TV movie) - Writer (writer) 1974
* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (TV movie) - Writer (writer) 1973
* Oh! Calcutta! - Writer (contributions) 1972
* Ghostbreakers (TV movie) - Writer (writer) (as Sherman Mellin) 1967
* The Iron Horse (TV series) - Writer (1 episode, 1967): Welcome for the General
* 12 O'Clock High (TV series) - Writer (1 episode, 1965): Target 802 - Writer (story) (teleplay)
* Studio One in Hollywood (TV series) - Writer (1 episode, 1956): A Day Before Battle

Theatrical Credits

* December Fools (Original, play) Written by Sherman Yellen - 2006
* Josephine Tonight! (Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen - 2006
* This Fair World (Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen
* Say Yes! (Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen - 2000
* Lucky in the Rain (Original, Musical) Book by Sherman Yellen - 1997
* Strangers (Original, Play) Written by Sherman Yellen - 1979
* Oh! Calcutta! (Revival, Musical, Revue) - Contributions by Sherman Yellen - 1976 - 1989
* Rex (Original, Musical) - Book by Sherman Yellen - 1976
* The Rothschilds (Original, Musical) - Book by Sherman Yellen - 1970 - 1972
* Oh! Calcutta! (Original, Musical, Revue) - Contributions by Sherman Yellen - 1969 - 1972

Awards and Nominations

* Tony Nomination - The Rothchilds
* Hallmark Award - New Gods for Lovers
* Emmy Nomination - Beauty and the Beast
* Christopher Award - Beauty and the Beast
* Emmy Award - The Adams Chronicles
* Emmy Award - An Early Frost

Commentary

In recent years Yellen has contributed political and personal articles to The Huffington Post and The Environmentalist as an advocate of progressive political views.

External links

* [http://shermanyellen.com Sherman Yellen Homepage]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0947394/ Sherman Yellen on the Internet Movie Database]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=8656 Sherman Yellen on the Internet Broadway Database]
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sherman-yellen Sherman Yellen on The Huffington Post]
* [http://www.the-environmentalist.org/search/label/Sherman%20Yellen Sherman Yellen on The Environmentalist]
* [http://www.theatreinchicago.com/talk/interior.php?podshowID=20 Interview with Sherman Yellen on Theatre in Chicago]
* [http://www.chicagocritic.com/html/josephine_tonight_.html Review of Yellen's 'Josephine Tonight!']

ee also

* An Early Frost
* Huffington Post
* The Environmentalist
* William Humphrey