Melville Shavelson
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Melville Shavelson (b. April 1, 1917, in New York City, New York) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969-1971, 1979-1981, and 1985-1987. He came to Hollywood in 1938 with comedian Bob Hope as one of his joke writers, a job he held for the next five years. He is responsible for the screenplays of such Hope films as Princess and the Pirate (1944), Where There's Life (1947), The Great Lover (1949), and Sorrowful Jones (1949).
Shavelson was nominated twice for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay - first for 1955's The Seven Little Foys, starring Hope in a rare dramatic role, and then for 1958's Houseboat. He shared both nominations with Jack Rose (1911-1995). He also directed both films. Other films he wrote and directed include Beau James (1957), The Five Pennies (1959) for which he won a Screen Writers Guild Award, It Started in Naples (1960), On the Double (1961), The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962), A New Kind of Love (1963), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), and Yours, Mine and Ours (1968).
Shavelson's autobiography, published in April of 2007, is entitled How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying, P.S. - You Can't! His other books include How to Make a Jewish Movie (1971), a memoir of his experiences while producing and directing Cast a Giant Shadow, and the Hollywood-themed novel Lualda (1973).
Shavelson's first wife, Lucille, died in 2000. He has been married to his second wife, Ruth Florea, since 2001.
The Shavelson Film Awards, given annually at Cornell University for promising filmmakers, were established and named in his honor.
