Norman Panama

Norman Panama (April 21, 1914 – January 13, 2003) was an American screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Melvin Frank to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades. He also wrote gags for comedians such as Bob Hope's radio program and for Groucho Marx.

The most famous films he directed were Li'l Abner (1959), the Danny Kaye film The Court Jester (1956), and the Bob Hope film How to Commit Marriage (1969). He wrote Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), Road to Utopia (1946), and The Court Jester, among other movies.

He won an Edgar Award for A Talent for Murder (1981), a play he co-wrote with Jerome Chodorov.

Panama continued to write and direct through the 1980s.

He died in 2003 in Los Angeles, California from complications due to Parkinson's disease.

Selected Filmography

• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (with Melvin Frank) (1948)
• White Christmas (with Melvin Frank and Norman Krasna) (1954)
• The Court Jester (with Melvin Frank) (1955) (also Co-Director)
• Lil' Abner (with Melvin Frank) (1959)
• The Facts of Life (with Melvin Frank) (1960)
• Not with My Wife, You Don't! (with Melvin Frank and Larry Gelbart) (1966) (also Co-Director)
• The Maltese Bippy (1969) (Director Only)
• How to Commit Marriage (1969) (Director Only)
• Coffee, Tea or Me? (with Melvin Frank and Stanley Ralph Ross) (1973) (TV) (also Director)
• I Will, I Will... for Now (with Albert E. Lewin) (1973) (also Director)

External links

• Norman Panama at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Panama, Norman
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 21, 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	January 13, 2003
Place of death