Norman Corwin

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Norman Lewis Corwin (born May 3, 1910, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest success was in the writing and directing of Radio Drama during the 1930s and 1940s.

Norman Corwin with cherished typewriter in 1973
Norman Corwin with cherished typewriter in 1973

Corwin was among the first producers to regularly use entertainment -- even light entertainment -- to tackle serious social issues. In this area he was a peer to Orson Welles and William Robson, and an inspiration to other later radio/TV writers such as Rod Serling, Gene Roddenberry and Norman Lear.

He is the son of Samuel and Rose Corwin. Corwin was a major figure in during the Golden Age of Radio. During the 1930s and 1940s he was a writer, producer of many radio programs in many genres: history, biography, fantasy, fiction, poetry and drama. He was the writer and creator of series such as The Columbia Workshop, 13 By Corwin, 26 By Corwin, and others. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Southern California.

Corwin has won the One World Award, two Peabody Medals, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a duPont-Columbia Award; he was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Lust for Life (1956). On May 12, 1990 Corwin received an Honorary Doctorate from Lincoln College. Corwin was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993. A documentary film on Corwin's life, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin won an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Feature) in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Marriage and children

Corwin was married in 1947 to actress Katherine Locke. They had two adopted children. Katherine Locke died in 1995.

[edit] Religious views

Corwin is Jewish, and his parents observed Judaism. (His father, Sam Corwin, attended holiday services until his death at 112). While not an observant Jew, Corwin has infused much of his work with the ideas of the Hebrew Prophets. One of the prayerbooks of American Reform Judaism, Shaarei Tefila: Gates of Prayer, contains a portion of the Prayer from the finale of Corwin's On a Note of Triumph (see link to full text below).

Lord God of test-tube and blueprint
Who jointed molecules of dust and shook them till their name was Adam,
Who taught worms and stars how they could live together,
Appear now among the parliaments of conquerors and give instruction to their schemes:
Measure out new liberties so none shall suffer for his father's color or the credo of his choice:
Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit by postponing it pretend:
Sit at the treaty table and convoy the hopes of the little peoples through expected straits,
And press into the final seal a sign that peace will come for longer than posterities can see ahead,
That man unto his fellow man shall be a friend forever.

[edit] Early career

Corwin began his career as a newspaper journalist, working for the Greenfield Recorder and the Springfield Republican, and soon began to read news over WBZA, a radio station in Massachusetts. In 1936 Corwin moved to New York City, and created a program for independent station WQXR. In 1938, he began working for the CBS radio network. Before long, CBS scheduled Norman Corwin's Words Without Music, using a writer's name in a program title for the first time. On this series aired two of his more famous works, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, a delightful fantasy in rhyme, and They Fly Through The Air, his impassioned reaction to the Spanish Civil War.

In 1941 he was given the timeslot and resources of the Columbia Workshop program for a full six months, under the title '26 By Corwin,' which required him to conceive, write, cast, direct and produce a completely new play every seven days.

His We Hold These Truths was first broadcast in December 15, 1941, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the United States Bill of Rights. Many radio and movie stars of the day were featured in this production, including an epilogue by American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. National Public Radio sponsored a new version of this program in 1991, for the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights.

His most famous work is On a Note of Triumph, first broadcast on VE Day, May 8, 1945. This work was a celebration of the Allied victory in Europe. According to Corwin, he was on a train "somewhere near Albuquerque" when news of the end of the war came to him. He had been planning to produce "on a Note of Triumph" as a moral booster for the men overseas. He grew concerned that since the war ended, perhaps the network would no longer wish to air it. Corwin called his station and expressed concern. Apparently, the head and founder of CBS radio, Mr. William Paley got a message to Corwin on the train .... "the President says, 'now more than ever' " and so, with Roosevelt's insistence that it continue, the program went on and became one of the most famous ever produced on radio. Corwin wrote and directed two plays produced on Broadway, The Rivalry (1959) and The World of Carl Sandburg (1960). According to Ray Bradbury, Corwin was responsible for the eventual publication of Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

[edit] Middle career

Corwin wrote a number of motion picture screenplays, including Lust for Life, which starred a young Kirk Douglas, and several books. In the early 70's he produced and hosted the television show Norman Corwin Presents.

He authored several books, most notably Trivializing America. He also authored a number of articles and plays.

[edit] Later career

During the 1990s, Corwin returned to radio drama, producing a series of radio plays for [National Public Radio]. He currently lectures at USC as a visiting professor.[1]

[edit] Works

[edit] "Golden Age" works in radio drama

Corwin wrote and produced well over 100 programs during the golden age of radio. This is a listing of some of his most notable programs.

  • The Plot to Overthrow Christmas - December 25, 1938
  • They Fly through the Air with the Greatest of Ease - February 19, 1939
  • Spoon River Anthology - March, 1939
  • Descent of the Gods - August 3, 1940
  • Mary and the Fairy - August 31, 1940
  • Psalm for a Dark Year - November 9, 1940
  • We Hold These Truths - December 15, 1940
  • America at War (series) - February 14, 1942
  • The Lonesome Train - March 21, 1944
  • Untitled - May 30, 1944
  • Home For the 4th - July 4, 1944
  • El Capitan and the Corporal - July 25, 1944
  • On a Note of Triumph - May 8, 1945
  • The Undecided Molecule - July 17, 1945
  • 14 August - August 14, 1945
  • God and Uranium - August 19, 1945
  • Hollywood Fights Back - October 26, 1947
  • Could Be - September 8, 1949
  • Document A/777 - March 26, 1950

[edit] Later works in radio drama

In recent years National Public Radio commissioned a number of new plays by Corwin; the series was called More By Corwin.

  • Our Lady Of The Freedoms, And Some Of Her Friends - A play about the Statue of Liberty.
  • The Writer With The Lame Left Hand - Based on the life story of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. This production featured Ed Asner, Charles Durning, Samantha Eggar and William Shatner.
  • The Curse Of 589 is a comedy about a physicist (William Shatner) who comes across an honest-to-goodness real life fairy, with a working magic wand.
  • 50 Years after 14 August - A reflection on the end of World War II.

Corwin is currently a lecturer at the University of Southern California.

[edit] Published works

A selected listing of books by Corwin, excluding collections of his radio dramas:

  • So Say The Wise: A Community Of Modern Mind -- New York: George Sully Company, 1929 -- A compendium of quotations, concentrating on current personalities. Compiled by Corwin and Hazel Cooley.
  • Holes In A Stained Glass Window -- Secaucus, NJ : L. Stuart, 1978 -- Collection of Corwin's Essays, Articles and Poetry. Contains both Prayer for the 70s and Jerusalem Printout
  • Trivializing America -- Secaucus, NJ : Lyle Stuart, 1983 -- A best-selling critique of the failings of contemporary American culture
  • Norman Corwin's Letters / Edited By Jack Langguth -- New York : Barricade Books Inc., 1994 -- Compilation of letters written throughout Corwin's career.

[edit] References

  • Norman Corwin's Letters / Edited By Jack Langguth -- New York : Barricade Books Inc.

Addendum: The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, Opera, Music by Walter Scharf, Libretto by Norman Corwin - written 1960, only performance 2000 Brigham Young University. The opera exists in manuscript form only. Composer and Librettest unable to agree on terms for further use. Scharf died in 2003.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

Golden Age of Radio

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