- Joseph Fields
Joseph Fields (
February 21 1895 -March 3 1966 ) was aTony Award -winning Americanplaywright ,theatre director ,screenwriter , andfilm producer .Life and career
Joseph Albert Fields was born in
New York City , the son ofvaudeville anLew Fields , he graduated fromDeWitt Clinton High School and attendedNew York University before enrolling in theAmerican Expeditionary Force duringWorld War I , after which he remained inParis until 1922. His early writing career was spent churning outscreenplay s for mostlyB-movie s, beginning with "The Big Shot" in 1931.Fields made his Broadway debut in 1938 with the play "Schoolhouse on the Lot", co-written with
Jerome Chodorov , who became a frequent collaborator. The prolific pair went on to write "My Sister Eileen " (1940), "Junior Miss" (1941), "The French Touch" (1945), "Wonderful Town " (1953), "The Girl in Pink Tights" (1954), "Anniversary Waltz" (1954), and "The Ponder Heart" (1956).With
Anita Loos , Fields wrote the book for theJule Styne musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", and he collaborated withOscar Hammerstein II on the book for "Flower Drum Song ". He also co-produced and wrote the screen adaptation of the latter, garnering aWriters Guild of America Award nomination for Best Written American Musical.Fields won the Tony Award for Best Musical for "Wonderful Town" and was nominated in the same category for "Flower Drum Song".
As a director, Fields helmed
Arthur Miller 's "The Man Who Had All the Luck " (1944), his own plays "I Gotta Get Out" (1947) and "The Tunnel of Love" (1957), and "The Desk Set" (1955). Fields was the brother of writer/lyricist Dorothy and writer Herbert. Depending upon the source, he died in either New York City [http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-field] orBeverly Hills [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0276284/] .External links
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=82266 Internet Broadway Database listing]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0276284/ Internet Movie Database listing]
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