Harry Kurnitz (January 5, 1908 – March 18, 1968) was an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. He also wrote mystery fiction under the pen name Marco Page.
Early Life and Education
Kurnitz was born in New York City and grew up in Philadelphia. He attended the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career in journalism as a book and music reviewer for The Philadelphia Record in 1930. In his spare time, he wrote mystery fiction under the name Marco Page.
Career
A mystery story Kurnitz wrote in 1937, Fast Company, about skulduggery in the rare-book business, led him to Hollywood. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased the book, and Kurnitz wrote the screenplay. He went on to write more than forty movie scripts. He wrote swashbucklers for Errol Flynn and comedies for Danny Kaye.
Notable film credits include Witness for the Prosecution (1957), for which he received an Academy Award nomination; How to Steal a Million (1966); Hatari! (1962); A Shot in the Dark (1964); Silk Stockings (1957); The Inspector General (1949); Adventures of Don Juan (1948); Land of the Pharaohs (1955); and several entries in the Thin Man series.
His first play was Reclining Figure (1954), a comedy about painters, patrons, and art dealers. He also wrote the comedy Once More, with Feeling! (1958), which he later adapted into a 1960 film. His play A Shot in the Dark (1961) was adapted from a French play by Marcel Achard and later became the basis for the 1964 film starring Peter Sellers. Kurnitz wrote the musical The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963) with Noël Coward, for which he was nominated for the 1964 Tony Award for Best Author (Musical).
Personal Life and Death
Kurnitz was married to Eileen Tatlock-Miller from 1941 to 1944. On March 18, 1968, he died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 60. At the time of his death, he was working on a detective story.
Partial Filmography
- Fast Company (1938)
- Fast and Loose (1939)
- I Love You Again (1940)
- Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
- They Got Me Covered (1943)
- See Here, Private Hargrove (1944)
- The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
- Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
- The Inspector General (1949)
- Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
- Silk Stockings (1957)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
- Once More, with Feeling! (1960)
- Hatari! (1962)
- A Shot in the Dark (1964)
- Goodbye Charlie (1964)
- How to Steal a Million (1966)
Awards and Recognition
- Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
- Nominated for the Tony Award for Best Author (Musical) for The Girl Who Came to Supper (1964)
