Charles Kaufman (screenwriter)


Charles Kaufman was an American novelist, writer and screenwriter.
Kaufman was a short story writer for The New Yorker. As a teenager, the books of Joseph Conrad inspired Kaufman to go to sea. At the age of sixteen, he signed on a freighter going to Turk's Island. He later worked as a bellboy on an ocean liner sailing to Bremen. His experiences in World War II led to a career as a screenwriter. His screenplay for the 1958 film The Story of Esther Costello was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay. Along with Wolfgang Reinhart he was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Screenplay in 1962 for the film Freud.
In 2010, Let There Be Light, whose screenplay Kaufman wrote with John Huston, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.". This documentary film about the treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of soldiers returning from WWII has been described as one of the most groundbreaking and acclaimed government films.
Kaufman was the author of three published books: Fiesta in Manhattan, After the Dream, and a children's book The Frog and the Beanpole.
Kaufman died of pneumonia in Los Angeles.

Selected works

Novels