Birthday:
06-20-1905
Deathday:
06-30-1984 (79 years)
Birthplace:
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Biography
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist views and political activism. She was blacklisted after her appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–1952. Although she continued to work on Broadway in the 1950s, her blacklisting by the American film industry caused a drop in her income. Many praised Hellman for refusing to answer questions by HUAC, but others believed, despite her denial, that she had belonged to the Communist Party.
As a playwright, Hellman had many successes on Broadway, including The Children's Hour, The Little Foxes and its sequel Another Part of the Forest, Watch on the Rhine, The Autumn Garden, and Toys in the Attic. She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay, which starred Bette Davis. Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett, who also was blacklisted for 10 years; the couple never married.
As a playwright, Hellman had many successes on Broadway, including The Children's Hour, The Little Foxes and its sequel Another Part of the Forest, Watch on the Rhine, The Autumn Garden, and Toys in the Attic. She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay, which starred Bette Davis. Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett, who also was blacklisted for 10 years; the couple never married.
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Their works
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Julia
Act like Woman in Boat
event1977 star_border 6.5
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At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
The Rehearsal
event1974 star_border 4.8
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An indictment of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. The film tries to give a reconstruction of the events during the students' uprising in the Athens Polytechnic (November 1973) by documents, rehearsals, interviews, songs and poems.
And the Oscar Goes To...
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2014 star_border 7
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The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Directed by William Wyler
Act like Self
event1986
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Documentary about the famed Hollywood director.
The Oscars
Act like Self (1 ep.)
event1953 star_border 7
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An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.
The Dick Cavett Show
Act like Self - Guest (1 ep.)
event1968 star_border 6.6
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The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Act like Self (1 ep.)
event1962 star_border 7.4
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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Dead End
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1937 star_border 7
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Mobster "Baby Face" Martin returns home to visit the New York neighborhood where he grew up, dropping in on his mother, who rejects him because of his gangster lifestyle, and his old girlfriend, Francey, now a syphilitic prostitute. Martin also crosses paths with Dave, a childhood friend struggling to make it as an architect, and the Dead End Kids, a gang of young boys roaming the streets of the city's East Side slums.
The Little Foxes
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1941 star_border 7.5
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In 1900, a clan attempts to strike a deal with a Chicago industrialist to get him to build cotton mills in their Deep South town.
Watch on the Rhine
Writer (1 ep.)
event2021
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Written and set during the rise of Hitler’s Germany, Watch on the Rhine is a play about an American family, suddenly awakened to the danger threatening its liberty.
Watch on the Rhine
Theatre Play (1 ep.)
event1943 star_border 6.8
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On the eve of World War II, the German Kurt Müller, his American-born wife Sara, and their three children, having lived in Europe for years, visit Sara's wealthy mother near Washington, DC. Kurt secretly works for the anti-Nazi resistance. A visiting Romanian count, becoming aware of this, seeks to blackmail him.
These Three
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1936 star_border 7.2
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Close friends Martha and Karen build a private boarding school together with the aid of the local doctor Joe. The school takes off and many students enroll, one of whom is a trouble-maker who tells a scandalous lie that threatens to destroy the trio's lives.
Toys in the Attic
Theatre Play (1 ep.)
event1963 star_border 6
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Julian Berniers returns from Illinois with his young bride Lily Prine to the family in New Orleans. His spinster sisters Carrie and Anna welcome the couple, who arrive with expensive gifts. The sisters hope Julian will help with their expenses, and he tells them that while his profitable factory went out of business, he did manage to save money.
It turns out that Julian pulled off a real estate scam and took off with the money. Carrie is obsessed with her brother. Her jealousy of Lily pushes her to discover the shady land deal for herself and she does everything she can to wreck their marriage.
The Spanish Earth
Writer (1 ep.)
event1937 star_border 6.5
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A propaganda film made during the Spanish Civil War in support of the Republican government against the rebellion by Gen. Francisco Franco's forces who were backed by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The film would have been seen by those making it as a documentary.
Another Part of the Forest
Novel (1 ep.)
event1948 star_border 7.6
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This 'prequel' to The Little Foxes tells how the ruthless members of the old-South Hubbard family got that way.
The North Star
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1943 star_border 6.1
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A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941. Later re-edited and released as "Armored Attack."
The Dark Angel
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1935 star_border 6.2
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Kitty Vane, Alan Trent, and Gerald Shannon have been inseparable friends since childhood. Kitty has always known she would marry one of them, but has waited until the beginning of World War I before finally choosing Alan. Gerald graciously gives them his blessing. Then, Gerald and Alan go to war. Angered over a misunderstanding involving Alan and Kitty, Gerald sends Alan on a dangerous mission that will change all their lives forever.
Candide
Writer (1 ep.)
event2003
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Concert performance of Bernstein's Candide, with additional connecting texts by Loriot (Vicco von Bülow).
Montserrat
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1971
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The story is set during the South American Wars of Independence. Simón Bolivar, the liberator, has escaped from Spanish custody with the aid of an idealistic Spanish officer, Captain Montserrat. The Spanish commander, Colonel Izquierdo ('left' in Spanish), threatens Montserrat with torture to find out where Bolivar can be recaptured.
Another Part of the Forest
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1972
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A television adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play about the Hubbards, a rich Southern family of greedy, ruthless individuals.
Leonard Bernstein - Bernstein - Candide
Lyricist (1 ep.)
event1989
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This is the historic concert performance of the final operatic version of Bernstein's Candide. It was recorded on December 13, 1989 at the Barbican Centre, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with a stellar cast of operatic stars gracing the solo parts. The programme lasts a full 2hrs 27 mins. It marks the end of a long and tortured journey for the musical/operetta that spent much of its first 35 years as an orphan in the musical wilderness.
The Chase
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1966 star_border 7.1
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The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.
The Children's Hour
Theatre Play (1 ep.)
event1961 star_border 7.7
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An unruly student at a private all-girls boarding school scandalously accuses the two women who run it of having a romantic relationship.
Candide
Lyricist (1 ep.)
event2005 star_border 7
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Leonard Bernstein's brilliant comic operetta comes to dazzling new life under the guidance of director Lonny Price (A Class Act). Based on the classic Voltaire tale of an innocent young man's journey through a life filled with colorful characters and unexpected life lessons, this tune-filled frolic features Tony Award-winners Patti LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth heading a dazzling cast with Paul Groves, Stanford Olsen, Sir Thomas Allen and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. The impeccable score (with lyrics by luminaries including Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Wilbur and John La Touche) includes a host of delightful songs such as "Life Is Happiness Indeed," "It Must Be So," "You Were Dead, You Know" and "Make Our Garden Grow." Now enjoy this all-new production of a musical comedy favorite with Broadway's top stars!
Candide
Lyricist (1 ep.)
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The innocent Candide discovers that human beings aren't all they are cracked up to be and ultimately focuses on building his own life on his own terms.
The Cowboy and the Lady
Additional Writing (1 ep.)
event1938 star_border 6.1
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Mary Smith decides after a lifetime of being a shut-in to do something wild while her father is out campaigning for the presidency, so she takes off for the family's home in West Palm Beach and inadvertently becomes romantically entangled with earnest cowboy Stretch Willoughby. Neither the dalliance nor the cowboy fit with the upper class image projected by her esteemed father, forcing her to choose.
The Lark
Writer (1 ep.)
event1957
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Adaptation of Jean Anouilh's 1952 play about Joan of Arc, the young girl who led the French to victory against the English in the Hundred Years' War.
Armored Attack!
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1957 star_border 6.2
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A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941. Re-edited version of The North Star (1943), to remove positive references to Soviet Union and include narration about the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.
The Searching Wind
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1946
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Always the diplomat, Alex Hazen is slow to take sides in Europe of the 1920s and 1930s. Cassie Bowman wants him to be more decisive and leaves him in Rome just as Mussolini is coming to power. There Alex marries Emily, daughter of a newspaper publisher who hires Cassie for his Paris bureau -- just before retiring from active management of his paper. Alex and Emily's son Sam, recently returned from active duty in World War II, learns the whole story one night in Washington when Emily invites Cassie to dinner. Sam has a story to tell, too.
Candide
Writer (1 ep.)
event2007
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Candide is a comic operetta written by Leonard Bernstein in 1956. The story is based on a novella by Voltaire, a satire about a man named Candide and his journey to becoming much more world weary. Recorded live at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.
Days To Come
Writer (1 ep.)
event2021
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Andrew Rodman is running the family business and failing at it. The workers are out on strike and things are getting desperate. “Papa would have known what to do,” his sister Cora nags, “and without wasting time and money.” But it’s too late, Rodman is bringing in strikebreakers, naively failing to anticipate the disastrous impact that this will have on his family and their place in the community where they have lived for generations.
The Little Foxes
Theatre Play (1 ep.)
event1956
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A tale of greed, one-upmanship, family distrust, abuse, apathy, and lost love, set in the deep south at the turn of the twentieth century.
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